Not The Only Endangered Species
by Elciram
Summary: Chris was just planning on going home after a nice weekend of convention going. He had no plans whatsoever to get scratched and changed into an endangered species. Let alone a different one from the species that scratched him. Hopefully he can find out what's going on and live his life without being experimented on. Rated for possible scenes and language later on. Pairings later.
1. CH 1: Curse or Blessing?

Cheetahs Aren't The Only Endangered Species

Chapter One: CURSE OR BLESSING? Wait, wait, wait, wait. **I'M A WHAT!**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the OC's

**READ THIS AN:** Hello again all. Elciram here, telling you what's going on. I apologize for doing this, but I've edited the first chapter by adding around 5000 or so words. The additions are what was going to be the first quarter or so of my second chapter. But as I started editing it I decided to add it to the end of chapter 1, thus getting the intro and back story for my character done in one go. Personally I think this is better and I hope you readers will too. Oh and just so you know, the Hybrid story is on hiatus, and will be rewritten at a later date, thus I am taking it down. Just FYI. Now without further ado lets get this thing started.

**AN 2:** I'm not sure what the age differences will be but Gina will be only a year younger or the same age as my OC. This is so that their attitudes will match better than if he was quite a bit or older younger than Gina.

"Hello" speech.

'_What the...' thoughts/Flashback/Other_

* * *

Normal POV

It was a normal day in Atlanta, Georgia. Although some people might think of people dressed up in costumes walking around the street to be strange, the fact that it was the last day of the weekend for the first Atlanta DragonCon (this isn't the real year but it works for the story), costumed fan are not that strange. In fact some people might even say that they feel right at home with the large number of costumed people.

Like Christopher for example. A normal looking guy with fairly good looks, Short brown hair and eyes, standing at an even six feet tall, not overweight but not overly muscular, defined would be the adjective to describe his build. He could probably get almost any girl he wanted, but with him not being extremely interested in dating, deciding that he would rather sort out his life first, as well as being a bit of an introvert he wasn't likely to have a serious relationship anytime soon. Chris was currently sitting at the airport having spent a nice amount of time and money on this trip to DragonCon. He now laments over the fact that he is now sitting at an airport waiting for his plane home to Vancouver Canada.

Sigh "I don't want to leave" says Chris while he sits in a chair waiting for the planes passengers to leave the plane so he and those around him can board.

Looking around and watching the people leaving the plane he spots, what he believes is, a tall girl dressed in a very convincing cat-girl costume. Thinking that they are here for the convention he walks over to them.

"Hello, sweet costume miss, can I ask where you got it."

The girl and her companion look at him strangely. "Huh"

" I said that, that's a sweet costume, oh, but if you're here for the convention it's over now so there's really no need to be wearing that."

Looking at him with a questioning eye the girl merely says " You're not from here are you."

"Nope, I'm actually headed home right now, just waiting for my plane" he answers kindly. "But still how'd you get such a cool costume, and seriously why are you all dressed up when the conventions over.""

Sounding fairly angry she answers "Look sir, this isn't a costume and I have no interest in any convention you went to, in any way whatsoever so please leave me alone and go wait for your plane."

As she talks to Chris the girl accompanying her is standing behind her trying to stifle her laughter.

"So what you really are a were-cheetah" he asks with disbelief. "I know that some people can really get into the whole cosplay act, but seriously you can't really believe that you really are a lycanthrope of some sort, can you?"

"I don't believe it I know it, and stop laughing Gina this isn't funny" Turning around to yell at her companion.

"Sorry Brit but it kind of is. I mean really, how often do you think that someone is actually going to come right up to you and just ask you what you are, and then not believe you." Replies the now known Gina to the now known Brit.

Getting exasperated at the fact that there's another person who believes that this costume is real he takes matters into his own hands. Literally.

"Oh come on all I have to do to prove that this is just a costume is pull your tail off."

Trying to do just that he reaches for and grabs Brits tail and gives it a mighty yank.

"YEEEOOOUUUCCHH" Screams Brit.

Letting go of Brits tail in shock Chris is stunned to realize that the tail does indeed appear to be real, and having owned a cat during his childhood, as well as having a cat right now at home, he would certainly recognize the feeling of a real cats around from Gina, Brit grabs her tail and holds it close to her chest while rubbing her sore spine where her tail is connected. Gina is now on the ground laughing.

" Jeezus, I'm sorry. I really thought that was a costume, and that maybe you had just glued it on. I really didn't think it was real, but wow I didn't think freaky mutants like you really existed."

SLAP

Falling over from the sheer force of the slap Brit had just given him all he could do was reach up to his face and feel the warm blood trailing down his cheek from the new cuts he had on his face. Cuts that even he realized he deserved, not that he had meant to call her a freak, it's just that he's a little shocked to find out that cat girls do exist.

"I'm not a mutant you asshole, I'm Brittany Diggers werecheetah, and don't you forget it, jerk" Turning around she starts walking to the exit.

No longer laughing Gina looks at Brit, then back at Chris and glares. Reaching down and grabbing the still shell-shocked boy she give him quite the tongue lashing. Chris just sits there in a daze feeling sorry for what he said.

"Look you big jerk I can get you not believing that she was real, it happens, but calling my sister a mutant freak was completely uncalled for"

"I-I I know I'm sorry can you apologize for me, I swear I didn't mean it, I've just been unhappy with how my weekends been going." Chris tries to explain why he went a bit too far. " First my friends ditch me and I need to come here by myself and then my luggage gets lost so I can't cosplay like I wanted to. Then **this**. I'm sorry this was just too much. I was just shocked and I said something I didn't mean."

Looking over him, and how he refuses to look her in the eye, Gina decides that he really is sorry.

"Look sir..."

"Chris. My names Chris."

"Alright Chris. I'll try to apologize for you, but she looked pretty upset. I doubt that she'll forgive you easily."

"That's fine it's not like I'll see her again anyway. I mean, I live in Vancouver up in Canada so, yeah, just apologize for me kay"

"Fine now go your flights leaving"

"Alright, thanks miss..."

"It's Gina"

"Okay, thanks Gina"

As he turns and walks back to his bags to board the plane he stops and turns around.

"Hey Gina" he calls.

"Hmm"

"With her being a were-cheetah and all, I'm not gonna contract lycanthrope from these cuts am I" He asks while pointing at his face.

"No, she's no longer enchanted to do that, you'll be fine"

Nodding his head in both thanks and relief he once again turns around to gather his stuff and board the plane. As he is walking down and over the ramp he never once thinks that that this won't be the last he sees either of the two sisters, or that Gina might possibly be wrong.

* * *

After arriving at home after his, certainly eventful, weekend Chris really wants to just head up to his room and go to sleep. For some reason or another he had been feeling rather tired and even though he had slept for almost the entire flight he was still tired. Unfortunately the moment he walked through the door his family decided to get in his face and start asking him questions about his trip. Sighing in exasperation he sets his bags down and answers the incoming questions. Knowing that if he just ignores them his mother will be pissed, and she gets scary when she gets mad. That, and his family already doesn't like him, only pretending otherwise.

"Yes I had fun"

"No, I didn't cosplay, I lost my luggage and they only got it back to me when I got to the airport on the way home"

" No I didn't buy anything inappropriate, at least not by my standards"

"Yes I did meet some hot girls, no I didn't get any numbers"

"I live here, they live there, that's why"

After several more questions he was finally had enough and stood up to go up to his room and go to bed. Grabbing his bag from the foot of the stair he trudged upstairs to bed, his family saying goodnight behind him. Entering his room he tosses his bag onto his desk chair and lays on his bed, not even bothering to undress. Looking to his left briefly the last thing he saw before sleeping was the bright full moon just outside his window. The moment he saw it he felt as if his body was burning, and his clothes were shrinking. However, this only lasted for a brief second before the swift, soft, darkness of sleep engulfed him.

* * *

The next day Chriss awoke to the strange feeling that he was bound in some way. Or wearing very small clothes at the least. Which was strange because he always wore clothes that ver a little bit large for him. He liked wearing loose clothing, made it easy to hide his two wooden... sticks, for lack of a better term, he made his self defense class. Being a black belt in Aikido, Jujitsu, and and Tae-kwon-do had its perks, especially in teaching himself how to use his... sticks. But back to the strange tightness of his clothes. Rolling out of bed he stood up, only to quickly crouch down after banging his head on the ceiling, fairly hard as well, making flakes of plaster fall on his head. The room also filled with the sound of clothes ripping.

Having crouched down, more out of reflex than extreme pain, he reached up to touch his head and in doing so saw his arm. Specifically the black rosette spots on white blue sheened fur, fur that was not there last night before he went to bed. After taking several deep breaths and trying his best to not freak out, he quickly stood up, wincing slightly at the sound of more ripping. This time he hunched slightly so as to not bang his head, and quickly, and silently, went to the bathroom to check out what happened to him. Not noticing that his pet cat Smoky, named for his silvery hair, was currently using his litter box that was in the bathroom.

Examining himself in the mirror, and standing up straight since the ceiling was higher, he notices that he's two feet taller putting him at around eight feet tall, his muscle are even more defined than before, with there simply being more, but most importantly he is covered head to toe in white fur with black rosette spots everywhere but on his front torso, as well as having a tail that is at least five feet long curling around him and waving around. Looking closely at his hand he flexes and out pop five two inch long claws that look like they could cut through steel with little resistance.

"Oh god what's going on, this can't be happening, this...this"

"Who the heck are you?"

"Who's there" Turning quickly and knocking over several cups on the counter, Chris looks around frantically for whoever or whatever was in the bathroom with him.

"Down here big guy"

Looking down he sees his cat Smoky sitting next to his litter box. "Well, are you gonna answer my question, or are you gonna just stand there looking like a fool with your jaw hanging open. I doubt I can take ya, but that doesn't mean I won't try."

Pausing to process the fact that his CAT was now TALKING, he took several deep breaths to once again calm down and not have a panic attack. (He's good at not freaking out, isn't he.)

"Okay, Smoky's talking, no big deal, not as bad as turning into an anthropomorphic feline" muttering under his breath he looks at Smoky again and states bluntly. "Hey Smoky, I am Chris, your owner"

"That's not possible, my owner was most certainly not a were creature of any sort, now seriously, who..."

Deciding he'd rather not get into an argument with a cat, Chris reached down and quickly scratches under his chin in the place that he knows Smoky loves being scratched. The place no one else knows where to scratch. Needless to say Smoky was convinced.

"Oh, oh yeah...right there, right there, ooohhhh that feels good, real good" Smoky, now convinced this person was his human, was now lying on his back spread eagle just loving the attention.

"Alright Smoky, now that I've convinced you I am who I say I am, what were you saying about being a were-creature."

Having stopped scratching his chin Chris now sits on the edge of the bathtub waiting for an answer.

"Okay it's a bit of a long story, more of a legend passed down through the ages by all felines, rodents, and canines to but we're not concerned about them, so be ready to sit for a while"

Chris listens to Smoky as he tells him what he knows of the ancient were-creatures. Smoky talks about how thousands of years ago, the ancient mage Iceron had first made the were-cats to hunt down and kill the were-rats that had betrayed him and left his employ. As well as combat the were-wolves that had abandoned him. He told Chris about how before he could get his revenge, Iceron disappeared. The were-cats then left, the were-lions, jaguars, and tigers left to who knows where, possibly another world, but the cheetahs stayed here, they had been fighting a war with the werewolves and couldn't leave.

"And that's the legend of the were-creatures"

"Wait, what? That's it!"

"That's it."

"But... what happened to to the cheetahs, and what type of were-cat am I. I'm certainly not any of the were-cats you mentioned. I'm more of a were- snow leopard by the looks of it."

"Unfortunately I don't know what happened to the were-cheetahs, or where they might be," explained Smoky. "And Iceron made **many** were-cat species, the ones I mentioned are just the one that we know he for sure didn't consider failures, and just kill off. Maybe another species managed to get away from Iceron before he killed them."

Thinking it over in his head Chris couldn't see why Iceron would consider were-snow leopard to be failures. They have both the longest and the highest jump of all felines, perfect for assassinating, and ambushing targets.

"Alright, unknown factors aside, why am **I **a were-cat, and how do I change back to normal"

"Well the legends say that all were-creatures can inflict other with their species lycanthrope, any weres scratch, or bite you recently"

"Well, yes, yesterday at the airport, but she was a cheetah not a leopard, (an:for the sake of ease all reference to leopard with specifically mean snow leopards unless otherwise explained) and her ability to pass it on was removed"

"Then maybe you have an ancestor that was stuck in human for, some weres did that so they could fit in with humans and not have were-creature children"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Get out of there now Chris, you've spent far too much time in there for it to be normal" yelled Chris' mom from outside the door.

"Oh shit" mutters Chris. "Yeah mom I know, sorry. I'll be out in a second". "Well hurry up". Quickly he turns, looking back at Smoky, "Speaking of humans and human form how do I change back"

"Well the legends say that all weres had to focus on the form they wished to take, animal, human, or hybrid, as well as the moon, since you gain power from it, it helps, but there's also stuff about focusing your body in a certain way that I don't really know much about"

Closing his eyes to focus better Chris quickly thought of his human form with the moon hanging behind him. Focusing on that image he tried his best to take that form, Suddenly a tingly feeling goes through his body and his ripped clothes feel far too big and fall off of him. Opening his eye he looks down at himself and sees that he is once again human, naked, but human.

"Oh I'm so happy I'm not furry anymore" he said as he grabbed a towel from the rack. If his mother saw him like that she would probably freak. She was very set in her ways and really didn't like anything that was different from her definition of ordinary. Especially if she hasn't taken her meds.

"Yeah, well, you be furry again in a month when the moons full again" said Smoky.

"WHAT"

"Yeah, you'll also not feel as comfortable as a human, all weres are more comfortable in their hybrid forms"

"Perfect, just perfect, and to think I was worried about starting college in a week"

* * *

_**Journal Entries Chris POV.**_

_**September Seventh:**_

_Chris here, I've decided to start keeping a journal to keep track of whatever weird shit happens from here on out. Starting with the fact that barely a week ago I was scratched by a were-cheetah and turned into a were-leopard. Yes, a were-leopard. From what I can tell either her curse was not so removed as I had been told, or, more likely, I am a descendant of a were-leopard that was sealed in human form, and from what my cat, Smoky, has told me, the latter is more probable, since if it was the former then I would have become a were-cheetah._

_That's another thing, I have discovered that I am a beast master and can talk with all manner of animals that are intelligent enough to understand me. So far all I've spoken to are the neighborhood cats, dogs and a variety of rodents, primarily squirrels, though all they've said is how much they like nuts, and they say it __**a lot.**_

_Other than that I've started my classes in college, and am hoping I'll get my degree faster than usual by applying to the Compressed English Program. If I get invited to it I'll manage to get my degree in a year. Which is awesome. It also has an ancient language portion as well, so I can act as a translator for ruins too._

_**September Twenty Fifth:**_

_I GOT IN. I will now have my degree in only__ a year_. YES!

_I also managed to sell my novel for a hefty sum of money, and got asked to do a guest speaking at my school as a part of the colleges Fiction Writing: How To, program. I had to keep this a secret from my mom however, since she really doesn't like the fact that I'm going for "something as useless as an arts degree". Yeah, she's not too happy about my choices in life._

_Yeah everything seems to be looking up, but the full moons in a couple of days, and even though I haven't changed once since the initial transformation, I'm apparently going to change regardless._

_**September Thirtieth:**_

_Smoky was right, I did change into my hybrid form again, but this time I managed to stay awake and feel everything that was happening. I've decided that I should just accept this as is and will be experimenting with my transformations starting this weekend._

_**October Fourth: **_

_It's Friday afternoon the start of the weekend. I've told my mother that I'm going to a friends house for a few days to study for a test on Monday she really doesn't want me to go but I really need to do this. In reality I'm going out to the large nature park not too far away. I've already prepped all my camping gear as well as stuck Smoky into my backpack. Hopefully this weekend will show some results._

_**October Sixth:**_

_The weekend is over, and with the help of Smoky, I've discovered that, for now anyways, that I can only shift forms every twenty four hours. However, I'm certain that there's a trick to this shifting forms thing that I'm missing. I'll have it figured out in a month. I"m certain._

_I have also discovered true pain in the form of my silver necklace. I had kept it in a bag via picking it up with pliers. Didn't want to tempt fate at home after all. Needless to say silver burns. Badly. That was also just from me picking it up, I can't imagine what it would feel like if I actually got cut._

_**October Thirteenth:**_

_Another week come and gone. I did a repeat of last weekend, no Smoky this time however, mom freaked when she couldn't find him last week, she hates it when either of us leave home for any amount of time. Still can't break the twenty four hour time constraint. I'm getting there, I know I am, but man this is frustrating._

_Nothing going on in school so far but the squirrels won't leave me alone. You'd think they'd be fearful of a cat person._

_I was also by each my martial arts instructors, all of them, if I wanted to do any competition fighting. Since it seems like some things, like my reflexes and so on, have now made me better than my instructors. Not that I wasn't nearly there any way, but still. I said no, not now, still need to sort out several things in my life. That and my mother would kill me. Obviously._

_**October Thirtieth:**_

_Full moon again, gonna try and meditate, get another feel for the transformation, turns out on the nights of a full moon I can shift as much as I want. Having had no luck last weekend I hope to figure out something soon._

_Smoky tells me that maybe just focusing on the moon and the form I want to take isn't enough. So I'll be testing something new this weekend._

_**November Second: **_

_Weekend again, and guess what. I DID IT. I can transform at will at any time now. Smoky was right in his assumption that just focusing on the moon and the form weren't enough. I also have to focus on my body itself, and picture myself shifting forms, while tensing, and then immediately relaxing my body. If I hadn't trained so hard in martial arts, in order to have complete control of my body, this might have taken longer to learn._

_Now that I've learned how to transform at will, I have decided that my family, or at least my mom, needs to know about what I am. She's been getting anxious about my weekend trips._

_**November Fifth:**_

_I told my mother about what happened to me. She freaked. Told me that we need to go see a doctor, a priest, an exorcist. Anyone that might be able to turn me back to normal. When I told her that I was fine, and that nothing was wrong with me, she told me that I was delusional. I told her that I like what I am, and that I wasn't going to a specialist of any sort, just because she doesn't like it. She got really angry after that, said that so long as I lived under her roof I would do as she said. I've decided to no longer live under her roof, and seeing as how I'm of age, I can leave whenever I want._

_I called the school and asked if there were any vacancies at the dormitory. Since I sold my novel, and it's sequel, I've just had a whole bunch of money just sitting in my bank account. Now I could use it, since my mother decided that she would no longer finance me in any way. _

_When I told my uncle about what was happening, excluding the lycanthrope, he was much more helpful than my mom ever was. I also got him to take care of Smoky, since I didn't trust my mom with him anymore, and the dorms don't allow pets._

_**November Nineteenth:**_

_A couple of guys visited me after school at the dorms today. They asked me several questions about my mother. Apparently she's been missing for a few days now, after what appears to be a break in at her house, and I'm a suspect for it since several neighbors know that I left home under some...unpleasant circumstances. Luckily I had witnesses, proving that I was in several study groups and classes that week, so they couldn't pin anything on me._

_Now I have to ask myself this. Is it wrong that I don't care. I mean she's my mom sure but shes never been that...encouraging, towards me, and really, she hasn't helped me much in the past. I found out that all that money I was getting for my tuition was from my dads life insurance. So it really never came from her._

_I don't know, maybe I'm worrying about it too much. __**I**__ think I'm a good person, my friends think I'm a good person. Maybe it's not me maybe it was always her._

_On an unrelated note, I now have a family of squirrels living outside my window that won't shut up. I miss Smoky, his conversations are at least somewhat interesting. Oh, I've also started dating too. A nice girl named Mio, hopefully I can keep my secrets and not screw anything up._

_**December Twenty Fifth:**_

_Been awhile hasn't it. Well with exams and everything I've been quite busy, but with no one else to talk to, especially after what's just happened I need to talk to someone. Even if it is just a book._

_My uncle is dead. Along with Smoky._

_My mother is the prime suspect for their murder, but the cops can't question her, since she seems to have hung herself in the same room as my uncle and Smoky. It appears as though she decided to stop taking her meds, and slowly went insane. She never was the same after dad died, I'm surprised she kept as much sanity as she did. Though this does make sense as to why I care about my uncle, and Smokys death more than my mothers. Maybe I always knew she just wasn't there anymore. That she wasn't the same person that I really thought of as my mom._

_Other than the bad stuff, I'm still keeping up with my form changing. But after this, I don't know what to do anymore. I mean. I'm still gonna finish school, but with no one else out there that I really call family, I don't know what to do. Hopefully I'll figure something out._

_Merry Christmas to me right._

_**December Thirtieth:**_

_With my uncle dead, the only family I have left now are from my moms side, and they all blame me for her descent into madness. They want nothing to do with me. Which is just fine in my opinion, never liked them that much anyway. However, because of this, I've been cut out from the family registry. That's fine I wanted to get a new last name anyways. I'm thinking Climbers. Yeah. Christopher Climbers. Catchy._

_After the funeral I went back to school, but I've made a few changes in my life. First change, is that I've started to do research on all the Ginas there are in Atlanta Georgia, to try and find the were-cheetah again. I don't know why I didn't do this earlier, but anyways, I think if I want to know anymore about what I don't already know, then I need to find them. Second change, I took up my senseis offer to start competition fighting. With no one really stopping me, I don't have a reason not to. I have my first match January Tenth. Third, I plan on spending as much time in my hybrid form as possible. It's just more comfortable for me._

_**January Tenth:**_

_Okay first match might have been a bit... incorrect. Apparently since I managed to beat all of my teachers in combat, I was immediately put into the world wide rankings as an unofficial A-Rank fighter among the Ultimate Fighters Federation. My teachers also apparently took me seriously, when I said "just get me a fight, I don't care who or how many" since they got me a one vs nine match up, against nine other A-Ranks in a Rank Up Battle Royale, with each person trying to win the S-Rank, but only one person getting it._

_I was not happy. Not happy at all. If this was a weapons match I would be, since I love using my stick-staff, but no, it isn't._

_Luckily I won. By the skin of my teeth no less. As well as with a large number of bruises, a twisted ankle, three cracked ribs, and a broken arm. They're calling me "The Shadow" since I wear all black , jump around so much in the ring, and hit from as many blind spots as I can, but hey, I'm now an S-Rank fighter, and I got my masteries in my martial arts. WOO-HOO._

_However the broken ribs, arm, jaw, and concussion, are things I could do without._

_I also don't have to fight too much, lucky me if I did my school would get screwed up. As an S-Rank, I just need to make two challenges, and accept two challenges, for a total of four fights a month to keep my rank. Oh, and I have to win at least three of those fights of course. Or I start to lose too many points, and will go down in rank._

_I also get the next month off from fighting, since I was injured. They expect me to sit in the hospital in pain, but I'll just shift forms when I get back home at the dorms, and use my healing to speed things up._

_On another note, I've yet to find the Gina I'm looking for. I also won't be making any more entries for a while, in order to focus more on all the other things that are going on in my life._

_**April Twenty First:**_

_First, I want to say Happy Birthday to me, and wow, its been a long time since my last entry._

_Alright, first things first, I found her. I found the Gina I'm looking for. Her full name is Gina Diggers and, honestly don't know why I didn't find her earlier, I mean she's the up and coming Chairwoman for The Explorers Society for Christs sake. She's still in university, but she's constantly making new discoveries. You'd think that she'd have been easier to find, or recognize. Anyways, along with the fact that I found Gina, I have also kept my rank in the UFF, and gotten better too. As well as finished my degree in English, with a minor in several other languages, mostly ancient ones. Not only that, but with the majority of fighters in the UFF moving to the headquarters, which happens to be in Atlanta, I can now go to Atlanta for free, and get my chance to look for Gina, and hopefully get to know her and her sister a bit better. It'd be nice to know some other weres._

_Other than that I've applied for U.S. citizenship, and since I'm a part of the UFFs northern branch, I should be getting it pretty soon. I guess they really do like their fighting down in the states, huh. My match is in a few weeks, giving me time to move down there and adjust to the new area. As well as look for the Diggers._

_I've also started to train my hybrid form and animal form for fighting as well. Through this I've learned that my Hybrid form can jump, from standing position, ten times better than a regular snow leopard. I can hold my breath for several minutes as well. I think that's because of the large nasal cavities that I have, allowing me to breathe more oxygen. My eyesight is also better than perfect, with zoom features and the ability to see better, regardless of visibility. Hopefully after I meet the Diggers, properly this time, they'll be able to help me figure even more things out. Like why I was able to change into an even better, and more powerful, hybrid form on the day of that eclipse not too long ago._

_Which reminds me. I need to apologize to that Brit girl properly this time. I __**really **__had no right to call her that, especially after finding out that I'm similar to her. I hope she accepts the apology._

_**Journal Entries Finished**_

* * *

Normal POV

Chris had been in Atlanta for roughly three days now, and unfortunately, he had yet to go out and find the Diggers family. Due to an unfortunate accident with one of the other fighters in the UFF, he would be filling in for the injured party, this was primarily due to the fact that he needed to debut as a fighter at headquarters. Since all the fights he had been in were fights at the branch buildings, he had yet to truly enter into the public spotlight. Why has he been waiting for three days, you might ask. Simply put, after heading to headquarters, he was informed that he needed to wait until his opponent, some guy named Ryan or something, arrived from his travels. Apparently, since he was new he had to wait for the higher ranking, and more senior fighters, when it came to match-ups. Why this Ryan Tabbot dude was three **days **late however was a mystery.

"How much longer do I have to wait, seriously, it's been three days since I got here, and this Ryan dude has yet to show up. I do have stuff to do you know." Chris complained noisily at the headquarters building waiting for his fight. "I'm tempted to just leave and not come back at this rate."

"Well that would be unfortunate since you'll finally be fighting today" said the secretary.

"Really, you mean this guy's finally here, I can finally fight and get out of here."

"Yes, your match is in a few minutes actually, so head to the entrance and get ready to fight, you'll be entering at the south door, just down that hall."

Ugh"Finally"

After hearing what entrance he needed to go to he started walking over, no need to go to a change room, since his fight clothes were similar enough to street clothes that he didn't need to wear something else in public, else he risk several funny looks. His outfit consisted of a tight gray sleeveless t-shirt under a pure black form fitting hoodie, with a pair of normal, if slightly loose, black jeans and black sneakers with gray outlines. Naming him "The Shadow" certainly fit his description.

Arriving at the entrance, he saw a man who he assumed was his opponent. He was same age as him, with long red hair tied back with a simple elastic band. Walking up to him he greeted this person in a very relaxed manner.

"So I guess you must be Ryan"

"Yeah, that's me. You must be that newbie, Chris, the guy who had connections and rose to S-Rank in one match. The association must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel if they let guys like you in here."

"Hey man, that's uncalled for, I earned my rank and I'll be damned if I just let you walk all over it."

"Whatever dude. Prove it in the ring first before you start talking big."

"Fine, I will." The curtains over the entrance start to rise.

"Well then, get in there." Ryan suddenly grabs Chris and tries to throw him through the entrance into the ring, but Chris reacts instantly and turns. This not only breaks Ryans hold, but also puts him off balance. Seeing this, Chris then grabs Ryan and throws him over his shoulder. Ryan is certainly surprised, to say the least.

"What the..."

After flying through the curtains, Ryan lands in a roll glaring back at the entrance. Chris calmly walks out staring directly at Ryan.

"Told you I earned my rank. Now no more tricks, let's get in the ring and fight properly."

heh "You don't get it, do you. At headquarters the fighting starts the moments the fighters meet and enter the arena area unless otherwise stated beforehand. The match has already started." Immediately after hearing this Chris looked around only to see that, indeed the area around him was set up in a way for the spectators to watch all around them, without interference, and that the timer had already started, and the fight had begun. In doing so however, he didn't see the flying kick Ryan aimed at his face.

(AN: I'm just gonna say it straight up. I am new at still this so forgive me if the fight scene is less than perfect. It also won't be the longest fight either, but if you read the comics the fights are only like three pages long.)

CRACK

His head snapping to the side, and the feeling of his body flying through the air, was enough for Chris to get his head in the game. Landing not to far off to the side, he looked at his opponent, only to see him smirking, and performing the age old 'come on' gesture with his hand. Refusing to fall for such obvious taunts, Chris simply stood, and took his stance, deciding to wait for his opponent to come and strike again. He didn't wait long. Realizing his taunts weren't going to work, Ryan charged forwards at almost unseen speeds, preparing to give Chris a straight punch to the chest. Chris then took a step back and to the left at the last moment, while leaning even further. Ryans punch sailed above Chris' shoulder. Chris then went for a punch to Ryan's stomach. Ryan blocked with his free hand, but Chris, prepared for a block just in case, changed his center of balance to hit Ryan with a snap kick to the side. Connecting with his kick, Chris sent Ryan flying into a heap not far away. Jumping into the air Chris raised his leg high, to deliver a crushing stomp to his downed opponent. Unfortunately, Ryan managed to roll out of the way in time. Being unable to stop his move, Chris landed his foot right into the floor. Ryan, seeing his opponent strike the floor, winced slightly when he saw that it was not Chris' foot that broke, but rather, it was the floor the floor.

'Well shit, I guess this guy does deserve his title' was all Ryan could think of after seeing this display of power. 'Better turn up the heat'

Turning his head, Chris had to suddenly lean back to avoid the flying tackle Ryan performed, only to receive a knee to the face. As Ryan continued to fly over Chris, Chris' face went into the ground. Stunned from being hit on his temples, he was unable to recover in time to block or dodge Ryan's elbow strike, and was hit directly in his stomach. Taking the hit Chris couldn't stop himself from coughing up a little blood, and swing his arm at Ryan, before clutching his stomach and ribs in pain. He had probably broken something. Jumping back to avoid the hit, Ryan landed a few feet away, but not wanting Chris to recover, he immediately jumped up to perform the same stomp move Chris had tried against him. Chris, having recovered, was a little upset that this guy thought he could use his own move against him. Tensing the arm he was using to hold his stomach he waited, until Ryan's foot was just the right distance from him, before he lashed out with his arm as hard as he could, connecting with, and snapping, Ryan's leg sideways. This had two effects for Ryan. The first, was that he missed his target. The second, since he was not prepared for it, was that his leg met with the floor at a very bad angle, snapping his leg into a very unnatural angle.

"AAAAARRRRGGGGG"

Needless to say, Ryan was hurt.

ding ding ding.

The bell rang from somewhere unseen signalling the end of the match due to disabling injury.

Paramedics rushed into the arena putting Ryan on a stretcher, and taking him away. Panting slightly, and still holding his stomach and ribs, Chris limped over to where the paramedics were, so that he could get treated as well. The paramedics took him through the entrance to the first aid room where Ryan had been brought, and sat him down in a chair. Waiting for them to finish their diagnostic of his injuries, Chris couldn't help but think, maybe he had been a bit too rough on Ryan. He could have ended the fight in a different way, a less painful and damaging way, but he really wanted to end the fight quick. At the same time however, he was happy that Ryan had tried to use that particular technique on him. If he hadn't, the match wouldn't have been as short as it had been. In fact, the only reason the match had been so short was because Ryan had just copied his move, and he had countered in the same way he himself had been countered. Resulting in him receiving the same injury in one of his previous losses when he was just starting out. But looking over at Ryan he could see, even though he was hopped up on anesthetics, that he had gained respect from his first opponent at headquarters.

Grinning to himself he started listening to what the doctors were saying. Apparently two of his ribs broke when Ryan landed that elbow slam. Internal bleeding was also a possibility. The medics suggested that he spend some time in the medical wing to recover, but he assured them that it was unnecessary, and managed to convince them to let him leave.

After leaving the UFF headquarters, Chris went straight to his hotel to get a good nights sleep. Before falling onto the bed however, he shifted into his hybrid form. Hopefully he'd be fully healed, before finally heading out in the morning to find the Diggers. Hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to find them.

* * *

Waking up early at around nine o'clock Chris showered, changed, and packed up his stuff, before heading downstairs to check out of the hotel. He could always come back later, if he couldn't find a different place closer to the Diggers. Unfortunately he had to be a bit careful with his ribs, since they were still tender even if they were no longer broken. They'd be fully healed if he waited for a bit longer in his hybrid form, but he didn't think that being a giant cat person in the middle of the city was a good idea. Immediately after checking out of his room he went to the nearest phone booth, to try and find the address for the Diggers. Finding it in the phone book, he called for a cab.

"Hey, can you take me to this address here." He asked the driver after getting in the cab.

Looking at the address the drivers eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "You sure you want to go there" he asks.

"Yeah I do. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. It's just that some crazy stuffs been known to happen out there that's all"

"Even if that's the case I still want to go, so lets go"

Feeling a bit bad about his rudeness, Chris promised himself to give a large tip to the driver, who clearly didn't want to take him to his destination. As the taxi drove away from the hotel he decided to put on his headphones, sit back, and relax. It'd be a bit of ride, if he read the map right. Might as well get a few more zzz's in before he got there.

* * *

Feeling the car come to a proper stop, as well as hearing the driver tell him they arrived, Chris woke up. Stretching briefly, he got out of the cab, after paying the driver, along with giving him the tip, then went to the trunk and got his bags. A simple backpack filled to the brim, along with a large sports bag filled with other things. He could always get the rest of his stuff later, when he actually had a place of residence. Looking around, he only noticed a driveway, no house. Turning to try and ask the taxi driver where he was, he saw that the driver had already high tailed it outta there. Sighing to himself, he decided that for now he would just walk up the driveway and ask for directions. Hopefully the people living here would be kind enough to answer his questions and point him in the right direction.

Reaching the end of the driveway he finally saw the house, although **house** was not the right word, since the only word to truly describe the place was mansion. Seriously, the place was huge. Who in the world needed so much space.

_'Then again, if there's a were-cheetah living here, a lot of space **would **be necessary'_ he thought

As he was walking up to the entrance, he braced himself before knocking. Waiting for a response, he held his breath as he heard someone coming to answer. The door opened, and there stood a man, white hair, likely in his fifties, answering the door while smoking a pipe.

"Hello, how can I help you?" Asked the man.

"Yes, um. Hello, is this the residence of Gina and Brittany Diggers." Asked Chris. What else could he say.

"It is. I am Doctor Theodore Diggers, their father. Why?" As he asked this he crossed his arms in a very, 'what do you want with my daughters', manner.

"Well, I was just wondering if Gina was in. I kinda need her help with something."

"And what would that be."

Pausing for a moment, he thought about whether or not he should tell him. He decided that if this guy had a were-cheetah child he might be able to help as well. Throwing caution to the wing he shifted forms.

As soon as he shifted forms he found himself face to face with Dr. Diggers outstretched hand. A hand which appeared to be glowing. Looking stunned, all Chris could say was. "Um, heh heh. Something Wrong?."

Chris was definitely not expecting the reaction he got from the old man in front of him. Luckily Dr. Diggers didn't seem to be the kind of person to shoot first and ask questions later. If he was then Chris would have been hit by whatever it is Diggers is holding in his hand. " Ummm...sorry, but can you put that down. I have no clue what it is that you are doing, but I think I can explain and alleviate any worries you seem to have." Said Chris with a growing worry.

Pausing for a moment Diggers put down his hand before he responded. "Very well then, but I want to hear the whole story, because as far as I knew the only other were-creatures on earth right now were my daughter, the wererats, and the werewolves in Germany." Said Diggers. "You also don't appear to be any werecat that I've ever seen, and I've seen them all so you understand that I am confused. I also apologize for that reaction, I felt your aura shift and expected an attack."

Now understanding the reason for the slightly threatening response ,Chris no longer felt like he was walking into an execution. "No problem. I honestly expected you to be a bit confused, or weirded out. May I come inside, my story's a bit long, and I don't think it's appropriate for it to be discussed on the front porch."

"Oh, yes, of course, please come in"

As Chris entered the mansion he couldn't help but stare around in awe at the sheer enormity of the house. Dr. Diggers noticing Chris' awe at his home couldn't help but give a slight smile of pride for his home. "Well come along, we can have our discussion in the living room." Said Dr. Diggers.

After going to the living room and sitting down Chris began to tell his story to Dr. Diggers excluding a few of the more personal points. After he finished Dr. Diggers was rubbing his beard in contemplation. Chris couldn't help but feel like he was in class with a teacher that was much more knowledgeable than him.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, but was really five minutes, of just sitting in silence, Dr. Diggers spoke up. "Well Chris, that is certainly an interesting story, and the spells I cast on you have told me that you are telling the truth. I'm surprised however, that you haven't done anything, or sought out help before this."

"Ah well, you see, I had a few... affairs... to put in order and a few obligations, and goals that I wanted to complete first."

"Yes, yes, getting your degree so soon is fairly impressive. Now the question however, is what do we do now."

" Well I'm not that sure, I was hoping you would be able to help me with that actually, all I really planned on was meeting another were-cat."

"Hmm...I can think of three things we could do for you right now. One, we could lock you in human for..."

"Not happening. This form is apart of who I am now, and I'm not giving up a piece of myself."

"Very well then TWO options, I guess. Option one. we remove your lycanthrope so you can't infect people, and send you on your way, or option two, we still remove the infectious part of your lycanthrope, but instead of you leaving you can stay here and try to integrate yourself into a less than normal life."

"Well there really only one option there and that's option two."

"OH, and why's that."

"Because if it means I'll get to live an interesting life that goes beyond what people call normal, then I'm there."

"I see, so you're an adventurer are you."

"Not yet but I've always wanted to be, maybe now I'll finally get the chance to."

"Well after you meet Gina and Brittany I'm sure you will."

"Hehe, yeah, maybe. By the way, when are they going to be back. I was hoping to meet them properly."

"They are on one of their adventure right now actually. Something about a Time Boat or something of the sort."

"I see. Well in that case can I give you my number and have you call me when they get back. It's getting late and I'll need to find a hotel room till I see them."

"Oh no, if you wish to wait for them then you can stay here. I insist."

"Oh, that's very kind of you Dr. Diggers, but I really don't want to be a bother."

"No no, I insist. With Gina and Brittany moving out soon if you are here then you might not meet them before they leave."

"Alright if you insist, where should I go unpack."

"Alright then the guest room is right this way."

Following Dr. Digger to the guest room, Chris couldn't help but continue to marvel at the magnificent architecture he was currently surrounded by. After they reached the guest room Chris was about to enter the room to put his things down and get some sleep when Dr. Diggers stopped him.

"By the way Christopher, just what exactly are your plans regarding my daughters. In particular Brittany."

"Ah well, I really wanted to learn some were-cat history and culture, but I guess I can learn that from you."

"Unfortunately I didn't learn much of the were-cheetahs before they were wiped out, leaving Brittany the only one, so you likely won't find any answers I'm afraid."

Looking down, sheepish and embarrassed, having realized something he hadn't Chris apologized."Oh, she's adopted. I'm sorry I wasn't aware."

"It's fine, but Christopher."

"Yes?"

The moment Chris responded, something he found both amazing and utterly terrifying happened. Dr. Diggers, who had previously had the appearance of a nice middle aged man, had changed into a terrifying black skeleton with flames surrounding it's skull and and ashes falling onto his shoulders. Scared witless, he was utterly petrified.

"I expect you to treat my daughter well, you hear me. If you insult either of my daughter again, like you say you did at the airport, or do anything else to hurt them. **You. Will. Regret It. UNDERSTAND!**"

Still petrified he could only mutter a quick "yes sir" before he practically dove into the guest room. Dr. Diggers couldn't help but chuckle as he walked away.

"That should stop him from making anymore mistakes regarding my daughters."

Overall, not a bad first introduction for Chris to the Diggers. So long as you weren't Chris that is.

'_Oh I hope this was a good idea.' _Thought Chris as he fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning Chris awoke to the sounds of a car pulling noisily into the driveway. He groggily turned over and in true tired fashion fell out of the bed he was sleeping in. "oof!". Grunting to himself he slowly got up and got dressed to go meet the Diggers sisters for the second time. Hopefully this meeting wouldn't be as bad as the first one they had nearly a year ago.

Walking through the mansion Chris, once again, couldn't help but look around in awe at how big the place was. Clearly adventuring had its perks. So engrossed in his second examination of the mansion, in the daytime too, he didn't even realize that he had already made it to the front entrance, until he heard people talking. Snapping out of his mental wanderings, he turned to the people at the front door, noticing that along with Dr. Diggers, who was dressed in his strange suit, Gina, who was dressed in Daisy Duke styled shorts and top, and Brit, who was in her seven foot tall hybrid form wearing a slightly too small unitard, there also seemed to be two extra people, people with pointed ears of all things, dressed in what could only be described as ancient slave garbs. Deciding that he should wait before asking who they were, he chose to interrupt their conversation, and introduce himself, with a simple "Hello."

The group of five turned to the source of the greeting, Dr. Diggers simply looked at him amused at his extremely casual greeting, the elves looked in confusion, and the two sisters in slight recognition.

"Well hi there handsome, who are you?" asked Gina, with more than a bit of lust in her voice.

"My name's Chris, and we've met before actually, about a year ago at the airport. I said some not so nice things that I really shouldn't have." Said Chris. "Again, I really didn't mean it."

A look of realization passed over the sisters faces, as well as a look of dislike from Brit.

"YOU, you're the one who called me a freak a year ago, aren't you." Brit was growling under her breath as she spoke. Clearly she could hold a grudge.

"Yes I am, sorry about that, I was having a bad week at the time" Chris looked extremely embarrassed for what he had done. "I assure you that I didn't mean anything by what I said. It really just slipped out."

"Tch, whatever." Not really believing him she turned around. "I'm gonna head up stairs and start some packing, kay Gina."

"Okay Brittany, I'll be up in a bit to help" Gina said as her sister walked upstairs, not taking her eyes off of Chris as she looked him up and down.

Still looking towards Chris, she asked the question that was on everybody's mind, excluding Chris and Dr. Diggers of course. "Why are you here."

"Well that's actually a funny story, you see, apparently I'm descended from a were-cat family that had their forms sealed, and when your sister slapped me, and cut me, she woke up my dormant were-cat genes, as you can see." Chris explained, shifting to his hybrid form, ripping his shirt in the process. " And with your sister being the only other were-cat I know of, this was the only place I could go to get some answers."

Shocked at the unexpected transformation she had just witnessed, Gina just stared at Chris not saying anything. Seeing that she wasn't responding, Chris began waving his hands in front of her face as Dr. Diggers and the two elf like people snickered in the background. Finally, Gina snapped out of it when Chris began snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"WHAT THE HECK, YOU'RE A WERE-CAT!" Yelled Gina in surprise. Her yell was loud enough that all the people on the ground floor had to cover their ears. A loud 'THWUMP' from upstairs proved that Brit had also heard her from up there.

WOOOSH

Brittany was a blur as she ran down the stairs at top speed, to see if what her sister had screamed was true.

"HE'S WHAT." Brittany screamed after arriving at the bottom of the stairs. Her previous dislike towards Chris forgotten at finding out that there might be another were-cat on earth besides her.

"He's a were-cat, snow leopard, from what we can tell." Said Dr. Diggers in a much more quiet and indoor tone of voice. "Apparently, when you first met him a year ago and his temporary 'foot in mouth disease' caused you to slap, and in the process scratch, him, he became a were-cat."

"But my lycanthrope's been removed, my scratch shouldn't have done anything." Said a slightly panicky Brit. She really, really, really didn't want to be responsible for possibly ruining someones life due to a slap. Chris didn't deserve to be cursed, even if he did say something really mean. "And besides, you said he's a snow leopard, right. That's not even close to the same species as me."

"Well, we kinda figured that your scratch didn't curse me, so much as it woke up the sealed and dormant were-cat enchantments that were already apart of me." Explained Chris who was picking at the shredded remains of his shirt. _'I really need to remember to wear larger or stretchier clothing. That's the third shirt I've ripped in just as many days.' _He thought as an afterthought.

"Yes, right, anyway Gina we were hoping you might be able to help us figure out what happened to Chris with one of your machines. I've already determined with magic that he is not a thrall, and is not cursed, as most people 'afflicted' with lycanthropy are, but rather his enchantment are exactly like what someone born with them should be like." Continued Dr. Diggers picking up where Chris left off. "Oh, and Chris, you should know that most people around here are used to seeing Brittany in her hybrid form, so it should be no trouble at all if you are as well. Being in human form is apparently very formal for were-creatures."

"Really, well that's awesome." Replied Chris, relieved that he no longer had to stay in his human form for most of his time. For some reason even though it was the form he had lived in for his whole life, it just didn't feel as right as his hybrid form.

As Chris and Dr. Diggers finished their explanations Gina and Brittany finally snapped out of their shock, fully, and were now ready to respond, but before they could there was a soft 'ahem' from towards the door.

Turning towards the door Gina, Brit, Chris, and Dr. Diggers all looked towards the two elves, each of them looking a little bit awkward at having just stood there while the others were talking. They gestured towards Gina in a pleading manner.

"Ah yes, sorry about that Tark, Mesha. Please let me introduce you to my father, Dr. Diggers, he's an arch mage, along with being the magic expert of the family because of it." Said Gina, trying to do some introductions. "And the other guy is Chris, someone new and unexpected. Dad, uh Chris, this is Tark and Mesha, they're two elves that we found and rescued from an evil dragon called Dreadwing."

"It's nice to finally meet you Dr. Diggers. Gina wouldn't stop talking about you on our way here." Said the dark skinned, purple haired Mesha. "Isn't that right Tark." She said as she nudged her husband.

"Indeed it is dear, though I don't think he needed to know that his daughter is gossiping about him behind his back." Said light skinned, blonde haired Tark.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you as well." Said Dr. Diggers as he walked over to greet them with a handshake.

"Same here." Said Chris.

"Alright now that the introduction are out of the way, I think it's time to get Chris here undressed and into my med tank." Said Gina with a more than slightly eager grin. "We have science to do."

"Um, right then, do I really need to be undressed for this." Questioned Chris slightly weary of Gina's now maniacal look.

"Yes, yes you do." Gina replied as she walked towards ste stair to get her equipment. _'Hehehe even though he's furry, and wasn't the most polite guy ever when we first met, getting a nice beefcake like him into one of my medical tanks to scan is going to be soooo sweet.'_

Backing away from the now drooling Gina, as she was clearly fantasizing something less than appropriate, Chris couldn't help but have second thoughts regarding his choice to receive help from these people. As he did, however, he heard a loud 'fwoosh' along with a bit of hot air from Dr. Diggers direction. "I have no intention of performing any untoward behavior with either of your daughters, and anything that might happen, I assure, you will not be my fault." Said Chris. Without even looking he knew that Dr. Diggers had activated his 'flaming skull intimidation' technique at seeing his daughters reaction to Chris, now that her surprise had worn off.

Calming down slightly, Dr. Diggers undid his spell. Looking back towards Dr. Diggers and the two elves. he saw that Dr. Diggers still had the look of an overprotective father, while Tark and Mesha had a look of surprise on their faces. Clearly even though they themselves knew magic there were still some things that can surprise anybody.

While this was happening Brit had also snapped out of her stupor and was following Gina up the stairs. "Hey hurry up we don't have all day for you to just stand there doing nothing." She said over her shoulder towards Chris.

"Oh right, coming." Said Chris as he walked away from the three more magically inclined people, as they began to talk about things that he just didn't comprehend. "It's Brittany right?"

"Just call me Cheetah, everybody does." She said over her shoulder. "It's gotten to the point that only family calls me Brittany, and that's only when I'm in trouble, or when it's important."

"Ah, okay, and once again I'm sorry about what I said, I'm wasn't having good back then and I was amazed that there are actually cat people out there." Said Chris trying to start a conversation. "Though I guess that I showed my amazement in a fairly poor manner huh."

"I guess it's okay. What you said was mean, but my sister had explained how you were having a bad week." Said Cheetah as they reached the top of the stairs. "But hey, what about you, turning into a were-cat all of a sudden probably caused you a few problems too I'm guessing."

"Yeah... problems. I guess you could call them that." Said Chris as he remembered all the things that had happened since he had become a were-cat. "A few things were unplanned, but overall I can't say that this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me."

Cheetah stopped in front of one of the doors, behind which came the noises of someone looking for something. Something that was likely difficult to get.

Opening the door, Chris and Cheetah walked into what could only be described as a war zone. There were pieces of metal strewn about on the floor, alongside clothes, blankets, and an assortment of different doodads that Chris simply could not figure out what their use might be. Suddenly a soft grunt from the other side of the bed grabbed their attention.

"Um...is she okay." Chris asked Cheetah in a hushed voice. "She sounds like she's having trouble."

"She's fine, but I don't get why she's in here, the medical equipment is all in another room." Cheetah responded. "Hey Gina, what are you looking for, your equipment's in the other room." She asked her sister in a slightly louder voice.

"Huh, oh... well you see, when I got up here I remembered that I had packed all that stuff up, for when we move in a few weeks, so that I can set it up in my new lab later on." Gina said sheepishly. "I came in here to see if there was anything in here that I could use to try and scan Chris with, but it doesn't look like I do. Sorry Chris, but it looks like you'll have to wait a while before we can do any scans to figure out everything about what happened to you." 'But worst of all, it also means that I won't get to see any bare hot stud skin for a while either.' Gina boy craziness was really starting to affect her priorities.

"Ah, well that's unfortunate, but if we have to wait a while then it's not that big a deal. I mean I waited a year before coming here after all, and I can give you my note on the observations I made. They're not much, but it's still something." Said Chris trying to cheer her up, not realizing that she was upset because she couldn't ogle his bare form for science.

"Oh, well if you have notes that I could read, then I guess I can look through those for now." Said Gina.

"Okay then, I'll just go and get them." Said Chris walking out of the room to go get his notes from his pack.

After Chris had left the room, Cheetah and Gina began discussing how this whole thing was effecting them.

"So sis, what do you think of him." Cheetah asked her sister.

"I think that such a hunk like him needs to be thoroughly examined." Said Gina with a bit of drool coming from her mouth.

"GINA! really girl you need to get your thoughts straightened out. He needs our help, even if he doesn't look like he's having problems he was still human for his entire life up until last year." Said Cheetah, amazed at how perverted her sister was. "Besides, we need to figure out what we're going to do with him before we go on our next expedition."

"Oh c'mon Cheetah, you can't tell me that you don't find him attractive. You're both were-cats after all." Said Gina in response to Cheetahs comments. "It's not like the chances of you finding another man with feline attributes are very high."

"Even so, I don't feel anything towards that guy, besides a bit of... regret that he's no longer human because of me." "Said Cheetah as she looked towards her feet in sorrow. "I mean,...what if his whole life was ruined because of me. Sure he insulted me, but you yourself said that he had been through some trouble. I just slapped him because he deserved it, but this is..."

"Something unintended. Nothing more nothing less." Said Chris as he walked back into Gina's room. "You didn't intend to change me into a were-cat, and I really did deserve that slap." Pausing for a moment, Chris had another thought. "In fact, Dr. Diggers said that you really can't turn anyone into a were-cat, so rather than turning me, you really just gave me an ability that I should have already had, but didn't."

Jumping slightly in surprise at Chris' sudden arrival, the two sisters just shared a look and hoped that he hadn't heard what they were talking about earlier. Luckily it seemed that he had only heard the tail end of their conversation, so it didn't look like he had.

"Here's the notes from my journal, there's not much, but I hope it can help you help me." Said Chris. "But really, I don't have many worries about what happened to me Cheetah. If anything it makes me unique, in a way it's actually pretty cool. So stop worrying about it."

Calming down from her surprise Cheetah nodded in agreement but it could be seen that she was still upset about what happened. Gina however was more focused on the journal in Chris' hands. Seeing her eyeing the journal in his hands, he gave the whole thing over to her. He really didn't care about the more personal things he had written in it. He had gotten over it some time ago so it didn't really matter. Gina gave a quick thank you before she began ready it. Cheetah, noticing that her sister would likely be reading it and making her own conclusions she grabbed Chris and began dragging him downstairs to get something to eat as it was almost noon.

"C'mon Chris, let's get something to eat I'm starving." Said Cheetah. Chris didn't respond as his stomach did that for him, approving the notion of food quite loudly. Cheetah just laughed as Chris rubbed his head in embarrassment.

* * *

A few hours later and Chris was sitting with the two elves, Dr. Diggers, and Cheetah, in kitchen arguing with said cat-girl over what food was better, fish or steak.

"No no no no, tuna is the king of the food groups, not beef or pork, tuna." Said cheetah for the twelfth time in the last hour. "No matter what you say nothing will change that!"

"Tuna's just a fatty fish that tastes nasty, a good rare steak with a nice side of ribs, now that's what's best when it comes to food." Said Chris in response, "I'll admit that most fish does taste very good, but tuna is not one of those fish."

Dr. Diggers and the elves just looked at each other in amusement at the show before them. Just then Gina opened the door and walked in, she did not look happy, in fact, she looked fairly upset. Clearly she had read something in Chris' journal that was related to his family. Hearing her enter the kitchen, the five people already there looked towards her, and immediately noticed that something was wrong. A knowing look passed over Chris' face, and before anyone could ask her what was wrong, he spoke up.

"You got to the parts involving my family didn't you." Chris stated instantly realizing what was wrong. Gina just nodded her head. Chris just sighed before going on. The other occupants of the kitchen listening in.

"You know, I really don't feel sorry about anything that I've done, so you don't need to feel sad Gina, and Cheetah, no matter what you hear now nothing was your fault. Okay?" Cheetah, her argument forgotten, just nodded at Chris, wondering just what was written in that journal.

Chris explained to them how when he was just a kid his dad had been killed, and his mother hurt in the process. He told them that his mother was less than fully sane afterwards, and how his uncle was the only one that really helped him out when he needed help. He talked about his mothers family and how they had never liked his father or him. Along with how his mother died after killing his uncle, and how his mothers family disowned him, as well as how he didn't really care since his maternal family weren't the nicest of people anyway. He explained how he didn't feel that much loss at losing his mother because, in his opinion, his mother had died when his father had. She just wasn't really there anymore. He even told them about his girlfriend, and their eventual break up when she made her claim to fame.

During his story there were few teary eyes from Gina and Cheetah, but he assured them that him becoming a were-leopard wasn't the cause of what happened, things had been wrong in his family for a long time now. It just reached a breaking point a little bit sooner than expected.

"All in all my family has problems, and there's not many, if any, of them that I want to see again. So coming here, and leaving my past where it was, is probably the best I've made for myself." Said Chris after his explanation. "And you guys knowing this doesn't mean much to me either, I mean, if I want to get to know you guys better, then letting you guys know about me is probably for the best."

Surprised at his openness regarding his past, the Diggers just nodded in agreement, they couldn't do much else.

"Anyway, Gina, what did you manage to get from the notes I gave you." Asked Chris, trying to change the topic to something else a little less close to home. "I hope that the information I managed to get was helpful in some way."

"Unfortunately it wasn't as helpful as I had hoped it would be, that's not to say it wasn't, but without the proper equipment I don't think anyone could get much more information about you." Said Gina in a subdued tone of voice.

"Well that sucks." Said Chris in a surprisingly laid back manner.

"'That sucks', that's all you have to say about this. 'That sucks'." Said Cheetah incredulously. "Don't you care about learning everything you can about this."

"Well yeah, but if I have to wait a while then I just have to wait, right. It's no big deal really." Chris responded.

Gina and Cheetah just looked at him, amazed at the amount of patience he seemed to have, along with just how laid back he really was.

"How long will I have to wait anyways." Asked Chris as an afterthought. "Having to wait too long would still be extremely annoying, no offense."

Looking at each other Gina and Cheetah were thinking the same thing. Gina didn't know how long it would take to find the lost temple of gold, but it would probably be a while, and Cheetah only knew that they were going to somewhere in Peru. So however long it would take was anyone's guess. Luckily Dr. Diggers was able to come to the rescue.

"Here's an idea for you three, why doesn't Chris tag along with you two for your next expedition. That way he can help you finish faster, and he can also get to know you all better since that's also one of the things he came here to do." Said Dr. Diggers explaining his idea to the three youngest people there. "Besides, Chris here is among the top ranking fighters in the world, as well as having exceptional skill in ancient languages, he also has an interest in archaeology."

Gina, Chris, and Cheetah just looked at him.

"What? You don't think I wouldn't try my best to find out information regarding an unknown guest in my house did you, you're a nice man Chris, but really, all I knew about you was information that you yourself told me." Said Dr. Diggers, defending himself and his knowledge of Chris' skills.

"I guess that makes sense, looking me up online or something would get you a lot of information on me." Said Chris rubbing his chin as he thought about what Dr. Diggers might know about him. "I am sorta famous right now, aren't I."

"Wait What! You're famous." Exclaimed Gina and Cheetah.

"Indeed he is girls. In the past year Chris here has sold three books, each for their own series, as well as reaching the top of the bestsellers and best in genre lists. Along with being among the most well known martial artists in the world, regardless of the fact that he didn't really step into the spotlight until recently." Explained Dr. Diggers in a very professor like manner. "Not only that, but for his final project for his degree, he actually managed to come up with a new way for translating certain ruins."

"Wow." Was all the sisters could say. "Why haven't I heard about this." Asked Gina.

"Well it's not like I had a pen name or anything. Maybe you didn't find out about it because I never published anything in any of the things you read." Said Chris, also wondering how she didn't know about him. _'Although, I really shouldn't be saying anything. After all it took me a year to find the infamous Gina 'Gold Digger'. So... yeah'_ Thought Chris.

"I guess so." Said Gina. "Well anyways, my dads idea has merit, do you want to come with us on our next expedition?" She asked. "It would certainly help to have an extra pair of hands around."

"Well I'd like to come, but I still need to find a place for permanent residence not that I'm here. I don't want to be a freeloader or anything so house hunting was next on my list of things to do." Chris stated wishing he could go but know that living arrangements came first.

Gina and Cheetah hummed in disappointment, then Cheetah got an idea.

"Hey Gina, wasn't that lot in front of the property we just bought also for sale." She asked her sister. "If it is then Chris could probably buy and you could have some of you construction bots build him a house. He's gotta have enough money to do that if he's as famous as he says."

"Hey that's true, and depending on how long or trip takes both our houses might be done by the time we get back." Said Gina, agreeing with her sister.

"Girls, I don't think..."

"That's an excellent idea." Said Dr. Diggers. "From what I found out about you Chris, you should have more than enough money to buy that lot."

Looking back and forth between Dr. Diggers and the two sisters Chris just sighed, knowing that he couldn't get out of this, and that this would be expensive. Tark and Mesha, who were now apparently staying with Dr. Diggers, for now, just chuckled in amusement.

"Alright then, lets go get me a house." Said Chris standing up from his seat._ 'God I hope this doesn't cost me too much, the houses and lots around here are huge._'

* * *

**AN:** Alright, so that's the first chapter redone. Please let me know what you think of this new and improved Chapter One, and please stand by for new chapters. Once again please note that I have no beta reader, and will not be getting one. I also hadn't written an outline for this chapter, unfortunately. That will change for all later chapters, so the quality of the story will hopefully be much better. Also the original series is something that I saw as a work of art, as such, for this fanfiction, I will be staying as close to canon as I can, while still changing things here and there to work with my OC. If you don't like this, or you think it's not truly fanfiction, then a different page is just a click away. For those of you that like this story, stay tuned for more chapters. Chapter Two should be up roughly a week after this re-post.


	2. CH 2: Lost Cities!

Cheetahs Aren't The Only Endangered Species

Chapter Two: LOST CITIES! An intro to archeology!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the OC's

**AN:** Yo second chapter here. I hope it's good enough for the critics out there. Don't forget to reread the first chapter now that I've edited it. Also, this will be the beginning of the canon story starting at the four part mini series. Just FYI.

"Hello" speech.

'_What the...' thoughts/flashbacks/Other_

* * *

Normal POV

Last time, Chris finally found the Diggers family, and in the process got invited to go on an expedition with Gina and Cheetah, to find The Lost Temple of Gold.

Three days after the initial conversation regarding Chris' living arrangement, they had finally found the realtor, filled out all the forms, and had payed for the lot in full. No mortgage, or fees, to pay back. Everything on the land he had bought would be his. Too bad the lot was empty, and he would have to wait for another unknown amount of time before he actually got to move into his, yet to be built, house. Luckily since there wasn't anything there the price for the lot wasn't as high as he expected. So he would still have money to fully furnish his house after it was built. He couldn't wait to finally have a library for his book collection. He couldn't have one in any of his previous residences.

Moving on. Two days after the land was bought, we see Chris, Gina, and Cheetah, somewhere over Darkest Peru, looking for a good place to jump ship since there current helicopter ride was being shot at by mercenaries. Luckily there pilot, Kevin 'Ace' Koss, was known currently as one of the best pilots out there. That didn't mean they didn't have anything to worry about since they had still been hit a few times, but nothing serious had been damaged though, so they weren't in deep shit yet. Of course, with Gina putting her flirt on with Ace, you never know if that's gonna change. Hopefully Ace can keep his cool

"Portside engine's history, troops! Our friends are getting better at their shots." Said Ace as he flew the copter away from the three other copters tailing them.

"Oh, I'm sure you can handle it, baby-cakes." Said Gina in a sultry voice, as she lean on Ace.

"Gina! Stop buggin' Ace and help me find the emergency gear!" Screamed Cheetah as she tried to find the equipment needed to jump ship. "Hey Chris, can you try and help me find our gear?"

"Holy shit Cheetah! are your adventures always like this." Chris asked as he stumbled over to where Cheetah was in the helicopter. "And no offense, but your sister is nuts. Seriously this is no time for flirting, especially with the **pilot **who needs to **focus**."

-heh "What's wrong Chris. This too much for ya? -oomf- And don't worry about my sister, she's definitely nuts."

Needless to say both Cheetah and Chris were not having fun as they bounced around the back of the chopper. Ace and Gina really weren't helping in that aspect either. Ace with his morbid telling of the damage they had taken.

"Tail rotor's Damaged!" Ace exclaimed as the chopper took another hit. "We make right turns only from now on people."

And Gina, completely oblivious to the danger they were in, simply continued with her flirting.

"We've Been in worse situations, Ace! Why, I remember when you had to out fly...yeek." Finally having enough of Ginas flirting, Chris grabbed her by the back of her shirt and dragged her away from Ace.

"Okay seriously, this is no time for flirting Gina we're in big trouble." Said Chris, slightly worried at how his first expedition was turning out. He had hoped for excitement but this was a bit much.

"Dammit Gina, Hurry up!" Cheetah screamed from behind the three people at the front of the chopper. "You forgot to pack the emergency gear didn't you."

Chris handed Gina over to her sister, after turning around to face the annoyed werecheetah.

"What emergency gear?!" Yelled Gina, upset that her flirty time had been taken away.

"The emergency gear that Cheetah asked you to pack before we left, apparently it was your turn." Chris stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Hey troops, we're over the objective right now, but the choppers taken too much damage. I can't keep her in the air long enough for you to repel down." Ace said looking over his shoulder at his passengers. "I've got to hightail it back to the airport now."

"Thanks Ace we can take it from here." Cheetah said to Ace as she put her sister under her arm. "Hey." "Shut up Gina, hold your stuff." "Why you." "Shut up. Chris! You gonna be okay jumping from here. It's a long drop. This is your last chance to back out."

Chris just glanced at her with an 'are you serious' look, before responding.

"Thanks for the concern Cheetah, but leopards, snow leopards in particular, are the best jumpers and landers out of the big cats, this height is nothing." Chris stated, slightly insulted that she thought a little height would intimidate him. "Besides, I've already come this far haven't I. Backing out now would just be stupid." He ended with a grin.

"Heh... least you got some spine to ya." Said Cheetah as she jumped out the side of the helicopter. "um... POCAHONTAS!"

"That's 'geronimo' you dullard!" Said Gina in a very are you stupid tone of voice.

"I thought I told you to shut up! I'm trinna' concentrate!" Cheetah said back to her sister, slightly embarrassed.

Chris just sighed turning back to Ace one more time before jumping.

"Thanks for the ride man, be careful on your way back." He said, right before he too jumped out of the chopper. "LOOK OUT BELOW!." He screamed.

Cheetah and Gina looked up towards Chris as he descended, and seeing that he was aimed right at them, rather than any of the nearby trees to halt his fall, they were unsure as to whether or not they should catch him. However Chris quickly let them know what to do.

"MOVE DAMMIT, I CAN LAND THIS JUST FINE!"

They decided to listen to him, since he probably wouldn't have just jumped if he didn't know he could survive, and moved out of the way. Though they were still wary of whether or not he would get hurt.

As he landed on the ground in a crouch safe and sound, with only a soft crunch beneath his feet from the leaves and branches, both the sisters began to rethink their previous expectations of what Chris could do. Not to say they didn't expect much. They just didn't expect him to be able to land perfectly from nearly 100 feet in the air without any resistance.

"WOW Chris, you sure can make a landing, huh." aid Gina, pointing out the obvious.

"Yep, and I can jump almost just as high as well." Chris stated with a cheeky grin. "Though I don't really like to., since jumping like that can really do a number on my muscle if I'm not careful."

"Well good thing there's not many times you would need to do something like that." Said Cheetah. "Over taxing your muscle like that must suck."

"Yeah, but thanks to my martial arts training, when I do, do that I can at least mostly control my strength." Chris explained. "There are some people that can do what I just did with no problems. As well as push themselves far past their limits, and natural restraints, to achieve massive power. It's dangerous and self destructive though...So as the old saying goes, 'know your limit, stay within it.'"

"Cool, you know my mom's a the Armsmaster on Jade, so maybe I can introduce you to her when we see her later this year." Said Gina, her tone becoming more somber as she finished her sentence. Chris chose not to ask what was wrong, feeling that this was a family matter that he had no right to intrude on. Cheetah, sensing the now less than happy mood, chose that moment to speak up.

"Anyway, I hope Ace made it back to the airport ok." Cheetah said, looking in the direction the chopper was last seen flying in. "He's a great pilot and a nice guy. I'm glad he's on your science team Gina."

"Yeah he is, and I am too." Gina said to Cheetah. "I wonder what he looks like in a swimsuit." She muttered under her breath.

"Oh well, on to business, let's find us this 'Lost Temple of Gold', and get back home with some loot." Cheetah said seriously.

"CHEETAH! Archeology isn't about looting old temples. It's about history, and discovering a piece of man's past, and how it fits into the big picture." Said a scandalized Gina, appalled at her sisters greedy behaviour.

"Oh whatever."

"You know this isn't like you Cheetah. Usually I have to drag you out by your tail to get you on one of my expeditions." Gina wondered why her sister seemed so ready to help. "This time however, you're all get up and go. What's the deal."

"Well to tell the truth." She began nervously, as she began shifting her weight from side to side. "I'm about sixty-thousand dollars in the hole right now after my latest shopping splurge. And being this much over the limit isn't good. This is the only way I know of to make some major cash quickly." The "without breaking the law anyways," that she muttered under her breath just went to prove how much trouble she was in.

"So you're flat broke, huh? That sucks." Said Chris from behind the two as he sat on a rock. "Has this ever happened before, or is this a rare occurrence?."

"This actually happens more than you'd think, unfortunately." Gina replied. "Don't worry, you get used to it after a while."

"Ugh, whatever. So how are we gonna find this "Lost Temple Of Gold" anyways sis."

"With this little trinket right here." Said Gina as she held up a large red gem that was roughly the size of a golf ball.

"Is that the gem of returning?" Questioned Chris with a slight degree of wonder in his voice. Clearly someone did their homework. "It's said that it's impossible to use if you don't don't solve it's riddle."

"Say what?" Cheetah said.

"That's right but it's riddle was no match for me and my 210 IQ."

"Oh brother!."

"It's corners when measured upon it's facets can produce the trigonomic distance and bearing to the temple no matter where you are in the universe." Gina began to explain. "Provided you know you own location in relation to..."

"Okay, okay. Geez Gina. You're givin me a headache the size of a house." Said Cheetah, in the background Chris had taken out a notebook and had begun writing. "Is that the rock you traded from the museum.? And What are you doing Chris?"

"Yes it is, and it only cost us Greenbeards treasure map from the Bermuda Triangle. Those Smithsonian owners are sooooo thick. And what are you doing Chris?"

Both Gina and Cheetah looked towards Chris who was writing furiously into his notebook. He didn't respond right away, writing one last thing down, Chris then looked up at the two sisters to answer their question.

"Oh sorry, I had just gotten a new idea in my head for a story. I wanted to get it written down before I could forget it." He explained. "Everythings that's happened so far, and what likely will happen, would make for an excellent story."

"Don't you already have, like, three series that you still need to finish. Shouldn't you get those done first before writing anything new?" Asked Gina, Cheetah thinking the same thing. "I mean afterall, if you can't finish what you start you really shouldn't move on to something else."

"That would often be the case, yes. But I've actually finished all the books for the rest of the series I have written. Unfortunately due to certain business rules I can't, or at least shouldn't, publish the next books in the series until at least three or four months after I've released a book." Chris explained getting a look of understanding from the sisters. "Oh, and it's actually four different series, this one here will be my fifth."

"Four? but I thought..."

"The fourth is less than appropriate for most audiences, let's leave it at that and move on shall we!" Chris said in a slightly forceful and embarrassed tone.

Glancing at each other Gina and Cheetah promised themselves that they would discover just what Chris was was hiding that would make him so embarrassed. For right now though they decided to continue on with the expedition and drop it.

"Alright whatever, but you Gina, I think you're the one that got gypped this time!" Said Cheetah to her sister in a doubting tone.

"SHHH! We're near the entrance we can find its exact location by looking through the gems first facet." Gina said, ignoring her sisters doubts. "The temples secret door is this way, just twenty yards."

"Then let's go sis, the sooner we get this done the sooner..."

"Hold up girls!" Chris suddenly said, ears twitching as he looked around. "I think I heard something, and no it's not just some small jungle creature Gina. This is much bigger and humanoid. I think... LOOK OUT!"

Suddenly a shadowed figure leapt out from behind the bushes Gina was standing in front of. "_**TURN BACK!**_"

"YEEEEK"

* * *

Elsewhere, nearly thirty miles south.

"You're certainly doing a piss poor job here, El Jefe!" Said a clearly upset, yet still quite stunning, dark skinned woman from within a large base camp. "Not only did you allow for Ace and his blackhawk to get away, you also allowed Gold Digger to land safe and sound."

"Well frankly Miss Pincer, I don't give a damn!" Said El Jefe. "Our job was to disable that blackhawk, which is nearly impossible with Ace's piloting skills, and to make sure that Gold Digger and her mutant cat girl couldn't rappel down. Which we succeeded in doing!"

"But they didn't rappel down. They fucking **jumped **down!" Exclaimed Miss Pincer, clearly not happy at the less than satisfactory work she had paid for.

"That's not mine or my mens problem Miss Pincer." Said El Jefe. "Look, if you don't like how us mercenaries work, then you should have gone to the Cartels!"

"You know what, nevermind, just get a pilot to bring me to her last known location. I'll deal that troublesome competitor of mine a humiliating defeat myself." Said Miss Pincer.

...

Back with Chris and the Diggers

When we had left here previously a new figure had just ambushed Gina and the two werecats. During the time since then Cheetah has been fighting the figure that had appeared. Said figure being a man with pointed ears, tiger patterned fur coat, and wearing only a dark blue loincloth. He was also extremely fit and most definitely had some skill in fighting, since he had yet to be hit by even one of Cheetahs attacks. Regardless of her super speed and strength.

Off to the side were Chris and Gina. The reason they weren't helping was the simple fact that, for one, Gina couldn't do much, being all brains and no brawn, and two, Cheetah had flat out said that Chris should "sit this one out and let the professionals deal with it." Completely disregarding the fact that that Chris was a world renowned martial artist, and would probably have had at least a little less difficulty in fighting the stranger. Regardless, they were both sitting on the sidelines, Gina watching the fight in boredom, and Chris writing in his notebook.

"I don't get it." Cheetah said in frustration after the tiger skin patterned man dodged yet another punch. "How can this guy be dodging my punches. I'm moving so fast that he'd have to know where I'm punching before I throw em?"

"You're telegraphing your moves Cheetah." Said Chris from the sideline not even glancing up from his notebook. "It's like like you're telling him exactly what you're going to do before you do it. You sure you don't want me to take over."

"Hardy-har-har! How about after I finish with him I take on you next."cheetah was clearly getting frustrated.

"Oooo, so scared." Chris sarcastically responded. "No offense to either of you, but from what I've seen here, I could land you both flat on your backs in five minutes tops."

Finally having enough, Gina intervened before things could escalate further. Standing up she called out to the two combatants.

"Look you two, it's been ten minutes already. He won't let us pass, and you won't stop trying to get him to move." Gina was really getting tired of waiting. "Let's try and reason with him Cheetah."

Stopping their fight, Cheetah backed off a little in order to talk with her opponent.

"Sounds logical to me, I guess." Then, looking down towards the man she had just been fighting, Cheetah asked the two questions that were on everybody's mind. "So who are you? Why are you trying to stop us?"

"I am Stripe." Said the man, surprisingly enough it was in perfect english. "The area you are headed towards was once my home. But recently a great evil has taken root there. I had to prevent you from suffering the same fate that fell upon the rest of my people."

"You and your people. Are they were-cats, like myself and Cheetah here." Chris asked with curiosity in his voice.

Cheetah, hearing this question, focused on his answer.

"I am afraid not," said Stripe apologetically. "Both myself and the rest of my kin are called Kryn."

"Jinkies! A race of cat like humanoids living right here in South America," Gina was amazed that no one had found out about these people earlier, "and this one's making my sister blush!"

"GINA!"

"You've never blushed over a guy before! Do you like him? I mean really **really **like him?" Gina was clearly having fun with this new dirt on her sister. "He is kinda cute tho..." Gina trailed off there and Cheetah turned back towards Stripe, huffing in frustration.

"Ignoring the bags of hormones over there, all I can say is that your concern is most appreciated Mister Stripe. But we absolutely must seek out the temple of gold." Chris stated with absolute certainty.

"If that is the case then I will come as well." Said Stripe after a moments thought. "perhaps with your help my people can be freed, and the evil lurking within can be warded off."

"But tell me-that is, if you don't mind my asking. Who are you people, and why have you come to my former home?" Striped asked with a large amount of wonder.

"Do you have a girlfriend," asked Cheetah out of nowhere in a very eager and hopeful tone.

Ignoring her her question Gina and Chris answered Stripe.

"I'm the world-famous super-scientist Gina Diggers, and this is my sister Cheetah." Gina said. "Archeology is my specialty and I've come to try and discover yet another ancient secret."

"The name's Chris. Rising star among the Ultimate Fighters Federation and novelist extraordinaire. I'm here with these two to try and get to know the only other werecat on earth, and hopefully get some new ideas for my next series." Said Chris. "I'm also hoping to become an adventurer, and this seemed like a good place to start with that.

"Wait now I'm confused," Stripe said looking towards Cheetah. "Wouldn't Cheetah be Chris' sister, instead of Gina's. I mean, Gina's human and you two...aren't... sooo?"

Cheetah twiddled her fingers nervously. "Well you see... I'm actually her fathers ward."

Cheetah went on from here explaining what had happened to her people and how she had been orphaned. How her people were in a war with another tribe of were-creatures, the were-wolves. She told him how the two tribes had fought tooth and claw, not because they couldn't use conventional weaponry, but because that's one of the only things that can kill a were creature. Luckily, Gina's father had been in the area working as an occult investigator, and was trying to discover the full extent of what was happening. Using his magic, he managed to investigate without being detected and found out. Unfortunately he had arrived too late to save any of the werecheetahs, other than an infant Brittany of course.

"And that's how I came to be Gina's sister. He's been a father to me ever since." Cheetah said, finishing her story.

"Hey! How come you told him that story after knowing him for only ten minutes, and I had to wait over ten years?" Gina was very upset that her sister had chosen to tell a complete stranger her story sooner than herself. "I thought you said that it was superpersonal."

Sensing that strife was soon to arrive at the group soon, Chris chose to intervene before anyone else could say anything. He also saw that Cheetah clearly had feelings for the striped man, and couldn't help but think that they were a good match. Even if they had only known each other for ten or twenty minutes.

"You know Gina, Cheetah might not have told you for so long because she was more afraid of what you would think of her than what Stripe would think of her." He said trying to ease up the tension. "Fear of rejection from a family is much more terrifying than fear of rejection from strangers, trust me, I know."

Gina just recoiled slightly, not having thought of that, while Cheetah just gave Him a thankful look, that turned into a blush when he gestured to Stripe and gave her a wink.

"Excuse me, Gina, since your father uses magic, does that mean that you can use it as well." Stipe asked with curiosity while trying to find the secret door to his city. "It would be most useful if you could."

"Unfortunately no, I can't. My father tried to teach me back in , but I couldn't move even a small two ounce ball." Gina didn't look too happy at the idea of not being able to do something. "But even though I failed at that my Dad explained to me how the laws of the natural were capable of doing far more than what the laws of the unnatural could even dream of doing, and I've been hooked on science ever since."

"Hey Stripe, is that the door we're looking for." Chris called out suddenly, seeing several carvings through the foliage.

"Yes I believe it is."

"Will you be able to unlock the secret buns-I mean-door?" Asked Cheetah, her words slipping up as her eyes wandered up and down Stripe as she stood behind him.

Not noticing, or ignoring, her slip up as Chris snickered in the background, Stripe responded. "I'm not sure. When my people were cursed I fled through the portal and haven't returned since." Stripe bent down to get a better look at the door. "But that doesn't mean I can't try."

"Do or do not, there is no try." Chris said in his best Yoda impersonation.

"Quoting Star Wars now of all times, really." Gina said in a deadpan tone of voice.

"Psst Gina! Get a load of the muscles on Stripes lower back girl. Umph!" Cheetah whispered as she continued to oggle Stripe from behind.

"It's impressive yeah, but a bit too furry for my tastes." Gina whispered back.

"Is that why you stopped staring at me with an excess amount of lust when decided to stay in my hybrid form Gina." Chris whispered from behind the two sisters, startling them both. "Because if I knew furry wasn't your thing then I might have shifted between my human and hybrid forms more often. Oh well, ya win some ya lose some."

"Wait, what do you mean 'switched forms more of..."

"It's open." Said Stripe, interrupting Cheetah and capturing the trios attention. "Our luck seems to be holding up. Let's hope it stays that way."

"You've obviously never heard of Murphy, or his annoying little rule book, have you?" Chris said in a sarcastically accusing manner. Stripe just gave him a funny look. Clearly he hadn't.

* * *

Meanwhile... a few miles away in a helicopter, we see Miss Pincer eyeing our four heroes through the choppers infrared mast.

"There they are, and dammit, they've discovered the secret entrance." Pincer said in frustration.

"Shall I shoot them down miss." Asked the pilot.

"No need, I can deal with them myself without bloodshed. Just lower me down, this is where I get off."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

Back with our furry trio and Gina. Inside of an underground cave.

"Wow, was this cavern often used by you people Stripe." Asked Gina as she examined the cavern they had to through in order to get to the golden temple.

"Not really Gina. You see we're a very secluded people. Very rarely did we venture outside of the city." Stripe replied.

"How do you know english so well then? You don't even have an accent."

"My people have studied this planet for a very long time Gina, we know a variety of languages and cultures from the outside world."

"Gina! Stop interrogating Stripe, if you don't then I'll personally make you stop talking." Cheetah said to her sister. She tired of hearing her interrogate the person she was now considering to be her man. "Stripe is kind, considerate, and caring. Confusing him with your little nitpick questions isn't something any of us need. Especially him."

"Well my my my, you sure do seem overprotective. Doesn't she Gina?" Said Chris from the back of the group.

"I think I'll scout ahead, and find out if it's safe to go further." Said Stripe.

"Hold up, I'll come too." Said Chris, moving past the two girls. "Don't talk each others ears off now girls, we'll be back soon." They both just stuck their tongues out at him.

* * *

With Gina and Cheetah.

"Okay Gina what's up with you. You catch the cooties or what?" Said Gina accusingly.

-sigh- "Isn't Stripe just so **dreamy?!**" Cheetah said in a fluttery tone of voice. "I think I've found a man I wanna settle down and have kids with."

-heh- "You always were attracted to scantily clad men with green eyes and tiger patterned fur coats, weren't you." said Gina.

"He's just so..so..soo...hot. It makes me wanna do the wild thang!"

"Oh brother, now I've got a lovesick lycanthrope to worry about." Gina said in exasperation as she tried to ignore her sisters maniacal claims of Stripe being all hers.

"So what? Are you gonna take him back home and turn him into a personal love toy." Asked Gina.

"It's a thought."

"Hey girls."Called Stripe from further in the cave. "It's safe to continue now."

"Coming sweethear-I mean-Stripe." Cheetah called back. "Don't tell him anything, alright Gina, I don't want him to know how much he turns me on just yet, okay?."

"Okay fine, but if he's been talking with Chris he probably already knows." Said Gina, muttering the last part under her breath. "It's not like you were hiding it that well anyways."

* * *

Five minutes earlier, with Stripe and Chris right after they went to scout ahead.

"So Stripe, what do you think of Miss Cheetah." Asked Chris as he and Stripe scouted ahead.

"What do you mean Chris." Stripe asked back. "What does it matter what I think of Cheetah."

"Just wondering if you might like her is all." Chris said casually.

"She is a very nice woman, and I am thankful that she is helping, much like you and Gina are. But I couldn't bring myself to claim a woman that is already in a relationship." Said Stripe after a moments thought.

"Already in a relationship? What?" Chris stopped for a second to look at Stripe, wondering just where he got that idea from.

"Well, yes. Is she not you girlfriend. You are both were-cats after all." Said Stripe looking up at Chris.

"Oh no, I'm not in a relationship with Cheetah. She's not really my type to be honest." Chris said rubbing his neck embarrassedly. "Besides, she was ogling you up and down earlier."

"Oh, I thought she was being flirtatious for the sake of gaining my trust. Are you with Gina then?" Stripe asked.

"Nope. What gave you the Idea?"

"Well it's just that you seem to be very comfortable around the two of them, so I just thought..." Stripe said trailing off at the end, the point being fairly obvious.

"To tell you the truth, I'm just good at being near people I guess. Things like worrying about what people will think of me is just something I don't do anymore." Said Chris as they began to walk to the edge of the cave. "And the Diggers family, as a whole, is very helpful and welcoming. I've only known them for a few days, but when they found out that I had nowhere to really go they helped me buy some land and build a house near their own. So it's really just a matter on them being very helpful towards me and me being very thankful towards them, while being quite friendly in the process. Though our first meeting went less than well"

"I see... how did..."

"Now, back to my question." Chris said interrupting him. He had no desire to retell **that** story to the guy who likely had the hots for Cheetah. What do you think of Brittany...er Cheetah."

Stripe paused for a second to think before answering. "I think I may very well love her." He said finally. "I am, at the least, very attracted to her, but at this point in time I don't know what to do."

"Well to be perfectly honest, she most definitely has the hots for you. At this point it's really just a matter of going with the flow for now. But don't tell her I told you this unless she asks, I think she wants to be the one to tell you herself."

"Very well then. It appears that we have reached the exit. I will go back and get the girls." Said Stripe turning around.

"Sure thing, I'll just head a little bit further in." Chris replied, walking through the exit and into the city.

"Alright, but be careful." Stripe said as he called to the two sisters. "Hey girls. It's safe to continue now."

The girls came up towards the entrance to Stirpes home and stood at the foot of a large staircase leading up towards the buildings..

"Gina, Cheetah, welcome to my home. A warning however, it's just as dangerous as it is beautiful so be cautious." Stripe said to them in a very wary tone. "Chris has gone to scout ahead, but we must still be wary."

"Funky" said Cheetah simply.

"ZOINKS" Screamed Gina ecstatically. "This isn't the lost temple, or heck even the lost skyscraper of gold. This is the lost **city** of gold. YEEHAH!"

"Get a grip Gold Digger." Cheetah told her sister. "Is the whole city made of gold Stripe?" She asked curiously.

"As far as I know, yes. It was the only material my ancestors could use to build here. This city..." He trailed off at the end.

"Stripe?" Cheetah put a worried hand on his shoulder.

"This city was once a proud home to my people... now it is home to a race of cursed beings incapable of rational, or personal, thought." He was truly upset for what had happened to his people.

GRROOOOWWLL "AAARRRGG"

A loud scream of pain came from the distance.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Gina yelled in fear.

"I'm not sure what that first noise was, but that pained scream sounded like Chris." Said Cheetah in worry.

"OH NO! They must have found him!" Said Stripe. "We need to go help him."

The trio ran up the stairs towards where they had heard Chris' scream. As they got closer to where they thought he was they saw that several beings, that appeared to be living statues, were surrounding him from all sides. Said werecat was lying on the ground with a spear shoved straight through his leg, not even werecat healing could help him until he got that spear out. Unfortunately that was impossible, since with him being surrounded he had to focus on the statues or else he'd take another spear. Quite possibly through something more important.

"JINKIES! Are those living statues?" Said Gina, asking the obvious.

"These are what remains of my people. They have been cursed to become mindless slaves, bound to the will of the one who made them this way." Said Stripe as he charged into the frenzy of statues.

"But wait, does that mean we can't hurt them without hurting your friends?" Gina said in worry.

"They are **cursed** Gina. -oof- No matter what destroys them, so long as a single piece remains, they will regenerate." Stripe said as he blocked a blow to his head and destroyed the statue attacking him. The of said statue slowly grew larger, proving that they did indeed regenerate.

"FUCKING OUCH!" Yelled Chris in pain as he rolled over to avoid an overhead slash. "You should have told us we could do that earlier Stripe. I wouldn't have lost focus when I was fighting if I didn't pause, thinking I had killed one of your friends." He said as he kick a statue from below breaking it's legs.

"Less talking, more busting." Cheetah said, as she hit the statue in front of her with over a hundred supersonic punches.

"Right. Set phasers to 'flame broil,' crew!" Gina said shooting her blaster towards the group of statues.

Unfortunately she had the settings wrong and ended up shooting the wrong beam. Thus she was blown off her feet, and missed all the statues she was aiming at. Luckily the shockwave from the blast managed to knock the majority of them away, making it easier to pick them off.

"OOPS! Wrong setting, that was my tachyon beam, I meant to shoot my photon charge." Gina said sheepishly from her place on the ground. "How many did I get?"

"NONE!" Shouted Chris several meters away from where he laid previously., as he finally managed to pull out the spear in his leg. The wound already closing. "But you did manage to send both myself and half the statues flying with the damned shockwave. Please **DO NOT** do that again."

"One more thing my friends! Beware their claws, should they touch the blood within your veins you will be cursed just as they are." Stripe said as he jumped over two statues, both of which then crashed into each other and shattered.

"Thanks for the tips Stripe!" Called Cheetah over her shoulder. "Alright, who's ne..."

Cheetah couldn't finish her taunt as one of the statues had snuck up behind her while she was talking and threw her right into Stripe. Knocking them both over, and stunning them, as the statue then charged them.

"Look out!" Chris yelled at the two fallen fighters, rushing towards them as fast as his still healing leg would allow.

"Don't let him get you Cheetah!" Said Stripe from underneath Cheetahs much larger frame.

"NO. Don't worry Stripe. I'll protect you," she said as she rose to try and fight the statue.

Luckily she wouldn't have to.

KA-BOOM.

Since Gina had finally reset her laser to the correct setting.

-whish- "Isn't technology wonderful." She said as she blew over the end of her gum. "You two can get up now. And I saw you coping a feel there Brit. Shame on you sis, shame!" She whispered that last part so that only Cheetah and Chris' advanced hearing could hear.

"I did not...!" Cheetah shouted indignantly before covering her mouth. Stripe gave her a funny look, but he didn't comment. In fact he actually gave a little grin.

A grin which only Chris and Gina saw. To which they grinned back.

The scene changes to that of a computerised scope as the quartets pesky competition, Miss Pincer, spied on them from afar. Their conversation heard loud and clear due to her equipment.

"I was just bracing myself for a counterattack." Cheetahs voice said through Pincers headset. "But thanks for the save anyway Gina!"

-heheh- "Actually, I missed by a foot, but proximity fuse on my Photon Charge's shot took up the slack." Gina said sheepishly.

"You're kidding." Chris said in an incredulous tone as he finally reached his three companions. His leg now healed. "You missed and that...that...uuhg, there are no words Gina. No words."

"We should get moving soon people. They will likely reform very quickly, and we should not be here when that happens." Stripe said as he accepted Cheetahs helpful hand as he stood up.

'_Hmmm, looks like Gold Digger hit big. Both in treasure __**and**__ in danger. I'll have to get to the good stuff before she does.' _Thought Pincer as she watched the group of four through her telescope. _'But with those statues roaming around, getting there will have to be something done discreetly. Unfortunately that will be troublesome... unless there's a concealed tunnel that I just found with my infra-goggles.'_ Indeed, right above her, there was an entrance to a small tunnel._ 'Yes, just what I need. -heheh- Gold Digger your treasure is mine!'_

* * *

Elsewhere in the city, with our four companions.

"Alright people, I'm almost done analysing the information I collected on those statue guys," Gina said looking at the readings on her computer-book." Though I wish we could have gotten more readings before we had to hightail it outta there."

"Couldn't you have used a laptop, or something, instead of this old relic. Seriously, **you** could probably calculate faster than this thing can." Chris said peering over her shoulder.

Cheetah and Stripe just sat off to the side knowing that they couldn't do much more here. However Cheetah did wonder where Gina got the tech she was currently using, and Stripe began to wonder if it was even working.

"Unfortunately the processing speed does leave much to be desired, but its scanning abilities are top notch. I've already got all the info there is on our petrified friends molecular structure." Gina said as she closed the computer.

"If that's the case then tell us what happened to Stripes people already." Cheetah said to her sister in frustration.

"Sorry Cheetah, but even if I had more data on how they are now I couldn't tell you how it happened. I really haven't got a clue here." Gina told Cheetah apologetically.

"But I do Gina," Stripe said in a very somber tone. "My peoples curse comes from the incompetence and cowardice of their prince and protector."

Stripe explained to them how the prince of the Kryn people relied on their prince to protect both themselves, and the precious artifacts that the Kryn people had kept hidden from the outside world for centuries. These artifacts would, in the wrong hands, be capable of causing immense harm to all those nearby.

"Not long ago an enemy of the Kryn people had infiltrated the city and made his way into the royal keep and the chamber holding the Crown of Ancients. This crown was the source of my peoples protection from our enemies powers." Stripe said as he continued his story. "The intruder was challenged, of course, but the prince was too late. The intruder was able to obtain the crown, and using its power the prince was rendered helpless. With their protections now gone the Kryn were then turned into mindless abominations they now are when the intruder somehow reversed the crowns protective energies."

Stripe paused here, his hands clenched so tight that you could see the whites of his knuckles, even through his fur.

"The prince... **I**... escaped, and I have lived with the memory of my failure ever since..." Stripe trailed off here, the revelation and memory of his failures taking their toll on him.

"It's not your fault Stripe!" Cheetah told him in an attempt to cheer him up. "Sometimes, there's just nothing we can do, no matter how hard we try."

"Yeah Stripe. Besides, this time around you're not alone." Chris said. "With Gina, Cheetah, and myself here, this'll be a piece of cake."

"Thank you Cheetah, Chris. I appreciate the help." Said Stripe.

"Hey Stripe, how about you and I... uh...scout ahead for a while? Give Gina some time to finish her math." Cheetah said as she pulled Stripe towards a more secluded part of the city.

'_Good GOD, that girls just got guys falling into her clutches whenever she wants.'_ Gina thought furiously. _'It's not fair. I almost have to bludgeon my guys with a spiked bat if I want to get anywhere with them.'_

"Holler if you need us, alright!" Cheetah was clearly quite happy.

'_God must hate me'_ Gina clearly wasn't.

"Oy Gina!" Chris called out from beside the computer-book. "I think this things done now."

"Is it?!" Gina moved back over to where Chris was looking at the readings. "-huh- Looks like there's some electron activity coming from the center of the city. We'll probably find whatever it is that turned Stripes people into homicidal lawn ornaments over there. Let's go"

"Shouldn't we go and get Stripe and Cheetah first?" Chris asked as he helped Gina pack up her stuff. "We might need there help."

"Oh just ignore them. Both you and them can probably handle whatever we might find anyway, so it's not like they'll need us for anything either. Unless of course, you want to interrupt a horny seven foot tall werecheetah that's looking for some nookie." Gina questioned Chris as he finished packing up her stuff.

"Nevermind..." He said sheepishly.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the center of the city a certain Pincer was already at the place where the artifacts were, and in the center of the room stood the man behind the solidified Kryn.

"_Oh my god, it looks like there's enough treasure to last a hundred lifetimes in here.'_ She thought as she spotted the artifacts from a hidden ledge above the room. _"But who's the freaky looking cloaked guy in the center."_

"Report, slaves." The figure said to two of the stone Kryn people.

"The prince has returned master... and he has powerful allies." One of the statues said with a very rough and gravelly voice.

"Already he has defeated the outer guard." Said the other, it's voice just as rough.

-hmmph- "Stripe is of no true threat to my plans. Dispatch a suitable force to capture both himself and his allies." The figure said to the two statues. "Both he and his allies will die by my hand alone. That way he will understand the folly of his actions. I shall take great pleasure in watching his torment as I kill his friend in front of him, and later himself as the life fades from his eyes,"

* * *

Back with Cheetah and Stripe.

"Wow Stripe, this place is beautiful."Cheetah said while she looked around in amazement as she and Stripe walked up to a very botanical area. "Where are we?"

"This is the garden Cheetah. Before my people were turned to stone, it was a place of meditation and relaxation." Stripe said, responding to Cheetahs question. "Obviously there's not much use for it now... but hopefully soon it will once again be filled with my people."

"You know it's nice to know that we're safe for right now." Cheetah said as she hugged Stripes arm. "Why don't we go and... rest.. on that nice, soft, patch of grass over there."

As Cheetah and Stripe sat down on the patch of grass she began to hold herself closer to Stripe. She sighed airily before speaking again.

"You know Stripe, I'm glad we met. If we hadn't, I don't know what we would have done without you to guide us around." Cheetah began to lovingly lean into Stripe.

"I am happy we are met as well Cheetah. It's nice to have friends around after being alone for so long." Stripe was getting nervous, he knew why Cheetah was acting this way, and how he felt, but this was still something he wasn't used to.

"Stripe...tell me... do.. do you think I'm pretty?" She asked nervously, before her tone immediately became lustful. "Because I think you're very handsome."

"I..I am very attractive to you Cheetah...but this is not the time, or place, to express our affection for each other." Stripe said as Cheetah pushed him over, climbing on top of him in the process. "I mean... what if we're attacked whi..."

Cheetah interrupted him as she locked her lips with his. Not realising that a group of statues were sneaking up from behind them while carrying a net.

"Shh..I'm the only one you should be thinking about Stripe." Cheetah said as she started rubbing up and down along Stripes body. "God Stripe, where have you been all my li..."

Before she could go any further, the statues that had been sneaking up on them trapped them in the net they were carrying. Immobilizing the two of them as the statues began to carry them away.

"Well this isn't good, I hope Gina and Chris are okay. Wherever they are." Stripe said as he and Cheetah were lifted off the ground.

* * *

Speaking of which.

Not far away from the garden that Cheetah and Stripe were in. Gina and Chris were standing next to a large structure at the top of a set of stairs near the center of the city.

"Hmmm, this is definitely the building we're looking for, but unless we can find a door we won't be doing anything." Gina said, looking around the building as she sipped on a juice box.

"Yeah, well if you weren't just standin around sipping your juice we might actually be able to find one!" Chris said as he was on his hands and knees looking for a hidden lever or some such thing that might allow for them to get in. " A little help would be greatly appreciated. I can't even write anything right now. Geez."

RAAARRRGG

"YEEEEEK"

Suddenly, another one of the statues jumped on top of Gina from above one of the ledges nearby.

"Oh good grief. Why now of all times." Chris said in a very annoyed tone of voice as he stood up to go help Gina. "Hold on Gina, I'm com..."

Before he could finish his sentence, or even take two steps towards Gina's direction. A second, third and fourth statue leapt towards Chris from around the corner, forcing him to dodge. Unfortunately away from Gina! Not only that, but the statues that he was facing this time were clearly more combat ready, if the metal armor and swords they wielded were anything to go by. Needles to say, Chris was not pleased.

"Fucking hell, are you serious?" He yelled, jumping out of the way of one of their swords. "DAMMIT! WHERE THE HELL ARE CHEETAH AND STRIPE?!"

Not far away, Cheetah and Stripe could hear the commotion. However, since they were a little 'tied up' at the moment, all they could do was hope that their friends would survive.

As Chris dodge, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged, to avoid getting hit by any of the statues weapons, else he too turn into stone. Gina was trying to get the statue that was on top of her to get off as she reached for her gun.

"Surrender human." Rasped out the petrified Kryn woman that was pinning Gina down. "Your fate is sealed!"

"These things can talk." Shouted Chris, surprised that something that was essentially a moving rock, had the vocal chords necessary to form audible words.

"Oh shut up will you, and get off of me. You're ruining my shirt." Said Gina as she finally got her hands on her gun. "Ah ha, I've got you now...whoops."

Unfortunately for Gina the statue pinning her down managed to knock her gun out of her hand before she could fire even a single shot. Luckily it did get knocked in the direction of Chris and the statues HE was fighting, but getting it would be incredibly troublesome.

"Now little one, I shall turn you into one of us." Said the statue as she prepared to scratch Gina in order to turn her into stone.

"Well I hope you don't mind if I scream as you do," Gina said before doing exactly that. "CHEETAH, STRIPE! WHERE ARE YOU TWO?!"

Unseen, by either Gina, Chris, or the statues, the Gem of Returning, that had previously led them to the city in the first place, had fallen out of Ginas pocket and as it did it began to glow brightly. As the glow became brighter, each of the four statues attacking Gina and Chris stopped what they were doing, and tried to cover themselves from the light, almost as if it caused them pain.

"NO...NO...NOOOOooooooo..." Suddenly, right before their eyes the statues all turned back into their original, unpetrified forms, each giving a weak groan before immediately passing out. "Oooh."

"Jinkies, she returned to normal. The Gen of Returning, it must be magical in some way." Gina said as she gently rolled the now flesh and bone Kryn off of her as she sat up. "It appears that she passed out from exhaustion."

"You'd probably be tired too if you were transformed into stone and back after fighting for who know how long. And here's your gun." Said Chris as he walked back up Gina, carrying the three Kryn he was fighting. "So I guess that little baby right there is the answer to all of Stripes problems, huh?" He asked as he turned around stretching his back from all the dodging he did.

"I guess it is. Now all we have to do is go find him." Said Gina as she stood up from her sitting place on the ground. "Oooh... if we find them and they're just making out somewhere, I swear...Yeep!"

Suddenly a hand reached around Ginas neck, and pulled her backwards into an alley like pathway.

Hearing Ginas small shriek Chris turned only to see a dark skinned woman with very nice features holding a loaded crossbow, tipped with what appeared to be silver, at the side of Gina's head. He froze, as he did not want Ginas death to occur right here and now.

"Get over here now, mutant, we don't want to attract anymore of those statues. But no sudden movements, or Gold Digger here gets a crossbow bolt through the head." Said the woman.

"Wait a minute... PENNY PINCHER! Is that you." Exclaimed Gina as she turned slightly to look at the woman holding a crossbow to her head. "Why are you here!?"

"That's PINCER." Said the now identified Penny Pincer.

"You screw with my name, I screw with yours."

"Uhh, do you two know each other? Because if you do, pointing a crossbow at someone isn't very friendly." Chris asked, wondering just who this lady was, and what was her deal with Gina. "By the way...could you put that down, it's not something we need to have going off in this much of an enclosed space." Chris said as he looked warily at the arrow. If those thing were made out of silver than they would be lethal.

"I don't think so Mr. Cat." "Chris" "Whatever. So long as I have this I have the upperhand." Said Penny as she nudged Gina with her crossbow.

"Alright fine, but what are you going to do now?"

"First I'm going to take that freaking hand-cannon from Gold Digger here." "HEY." "Next I'm going to pay her back for what she did to me in Budapest."

"And what was tha..." WEDGE!

Chis was cut off as he looked on in bewilderment, utterly stunned, as Penny grabbed the back of Ginas Daisy Dukes, and yanked upwards...HARD.

-guurhg- "Dirty, down-low unfair. I didn't get you _that _hard back in Budapest." Said Gina as she rubbed her sore hiney and tried to unwedge her underwear.

"True. And two wrongs don't make a right. But they do make us even." Penny said smugly before she got a serious look on her face. "Now let's get down to business. I need you two to go and rescue your two other mutant friends."

"What!?" Asked Chris and Gina.

"Your two furry friends got captured not long ago. They were taken to the leaders lair." Explained Penny. "I know a secret passage that'll get us there, but we need to go... now!"

"Oh I get it now." Gina suddenly spoke up. "You want me and Chris here to go and distract the leader so that YOU can go and get all the artifacts by yourself."

-heheh- "You're not as dumb as you look, are you Gina." Said Penny. "One of the reason I took your gun was because it ends fights too quickly, and I need your distraction to last as long as possible."

-grrrr- "Why you..."

"Enough Gina! As much as Miss Pincher," "Pincer!" "Is making me want to strangle her right now, we need to go save your sister and Stripe." Chris said seriously, as his whole demeanor changed. "In this situation we need to focus on saving our friends...even if it means we need to sacrifice some treasure."

"Chris..." Gina didn't know what to say. Chris clearly had some issues with the idea of losing his friends.

"Excellent! That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Now how about you Gina. What do you have to say?" Penny asked, far more happy than Chris and Gina would have liked. Their friends were in danger after all.

"You don't want to hear what I'd like to say Penny... but what I will say... is okay."

* * *

A Little While later, in the throne room of the palace.

"We have brought you the prince and his thrall, Lord Gryphon." Said one of the statues carrying Cheetah adn Stripe.

"HEY! Who're you calling a thrall !"

"SILENCE!" Said Lord Gryphon in a commanding tone."I was told there were four of them. Where are the human and the other were-cat?"

"They have eluded our detection so far, but we will find them soon. It is only a matter of time." Said another statue, this one holding a spear in its hands.

-psst- "Hey Stripe, what's a thrall?" Cheetah whispered questioningly into Stripes ear. Clearly she wasn't too worried.

"This isn't the time Cheetah. I'll tell you later." Stripe whispered back.

"No matter." Said Gryphon. Not noticing his two prisoners conversation. "Neither of them are important to my plans, kill the human if you see her, but enslave the werecat if you can. He will make a fine addition to my army."

Turning to look at his two captives, Gryphon stood up to walk over and gloat.

"So young prince. I see you have returned to die." Gryphon taunted as he stood over the two prisoners.

"Dammit, I can break steel wires like they were made of noodles. Why can't I break these damn ropes, this is just like that net." Cheetah said as she continued to try and escape her bindings.

"It's no use Cheetah. Gryphons powers make these bindings unbreakable, same with the net he had trapped us in earlier." Stripe told Cheetah as he watched her struggle. "As much as I hate to say it, we can do nothing as we are right now."

"That is correct Stripe, and now that I have taken over your city and have you at my mercy, the wars between the Kryn and the lords of Atlantis are finally over, and my victory complete." Gryphon said as he removed his hood, revealing that he was wearing the Crown of Ancients.

Unseen by those in the throne room however, Penny, Gina, and Chris were all looking on from over head in the hidden ledge. Perfectly safe from those below.

"Did you hear that Gina, that guys from Atlantis." Said an amazed Penny from within the alcove.

"Nevermind that girls. Gina, you grab that drape and swing down after me. I'm gonna knock some sense out of this guy." Chris said impatiently as he prepared to jump down.

"You mean 'knock some sense into him'... right?" Asked Gina.

"Nope"

"You should have stayed away when you had the chance Stripe!" Gryphon said as he charged the crowns power. "Now, there is nowhere to run. Farewell fools."

But before he could release the energy he had built up in the crown, Chris came jumping straight down on top of him.

"BOOT TO THE HEAD BEEYOTCH!" He screamed as his foot connected with the side of Gryphons head, breaking his concentration, and releasing the spells holding Stripe and Cheetah. "That's what you get for kidnapping my friends!"

"Way to go Chris. Now me and Stripe can open a can of whoop ass on these stone heads." Cheetah said as she turned to punch a couple of statues.

"Heeeelp meeee!" Or she would have, if not for her Tarzan swinging sister, who was kicking them out of the way as she swung by hanging onto a drape. "Somebody... GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!"

"Damn, you take care of the others Stripe, I'll go grab my sister, and Chris can take on Mr. Wizard up over there." Cheetah told Stripe as she went after her sister.

"Very well Cheetah."

Over with Chris and Gryphon, Chris had managed to land a clean headbutt to Gryphons face before he sent a punch into his stomach.

While this was happening Penny had managed to climb down, and was getting a closer look at the extremely large twenty-four karat twelve pound ruby.

'_This is perfect, with Gina and her flunkies making such a ruckus over there, the treasure is mine for the taking.' _She thought as she grabbed the ruby. _'Oh if mama could see me now.'_

Her musing were cut short as Gina rammed into her as she was swinging on the drape.

"Well fancy meeting you here Penny." She said casually.

"Gedoffame."

"Well well well. Who do we have here." Cheetah said as she walked up to Gina and Penny. "PINCHER. Didn't you learn your lesson back in Budapest."

KRAKATHOOM

"ARRG"

The three girls and Stripe look towards Chris from their positions in the room. Only to see that his fur is charred in several areas, with several more patches slowly re-growing fur, as he is held aloft by Gryphon.

"Dirty bastard -cough- that crown aint your only weapon,is it? -cough- shoulda known. -cough-" Chris said weakly as he slowly healed from the magical lightning attack.

"HOW DARE YOU STRIKE ME LIKE THAT! Prepare for an eternity in purgatory you worm!" Gryphon screamed at Chris directly in his face.

"-cough-, dammit. How'd you -uhg- get... so... stro..." Chris couldn't finish his question as Gryphons hands began to glow, and he quickly turned to stone.

"Oh that is not good. I need to...oof" "Get knocked out!" Said Stripe and one of the statues, as Stripe got hit in the stomach by the statue that snuck up on him.

-AHAHAHAHAHA- "Another statue for my collection." Gryphon laughed as he turned Chris to stone. "And now my new minion, kill those worthless little guests of ours."

"Yes master." Said a now petrified Chris. "These next few moments shall mark the end of their lives."

"Oh geez! H-here's your pistol back Gina." Penny stuttered out behind from behind both Cheetah and Gina, handing Gina's gun back to her, as Chris stalked towards them.

"T-thanks Penny, but I don't think it'll do much in this situation it looks likes here's made of harder stuff. Cheetah, do you think you can take him?" Gina said as she nervously took her gun back from Penny.

"I don't think so Gina. I can try... but I've seen him practicing in the mornings before we came here, and I gotta say, he's really good."

"Oh wonderful." Penny said sarcastically.

"Wait the Gem of Returning. I can use it to change him back." Gina said as she reached into her backpack. "Oh SHIT! It's not here. I must have dropped it when I was swinging around. Penny, help me find it!"

"Hurry up Gina. I don't know why, but his movements are more strained than they should be, Though that doesn't mean you can take your sweet time right now." Cheetah shouted at her sister as Chris jumped towards her at an incredible speed. "Aaaah" she screamed as he tackled her to the ground.

As Gina and Penny continued to look for the gem Cheetah began to fight with Chris, and although it was true that his movements were indeed strained for some reason, she was still starting to lose.

"Eat my 'Stasis Arrow,' cat boy!" Screamed Penny as she fired an arrow at Chris when she saw he had grabbed Cheetah by the neck.

"And here's some 'Tachyon Beams' from me!." Gina yelled alongside Penny. Unfortunately besides knocking him away and into a wall, neither of their weapons did all that much damage to them, and the damage he _had_ received was already healing. He was obviously a lot tougher than the other statues.

"Is that it?" The petrified form of Chris asked as he pulled himself out of the wall. "Because I must say. That only barely tickled."

As he charged towards the three girls again, Stripe, who had awakened and disabled the statue that had knocked him out, rushed over from the side and managed to tackle Chris to the ground. Cheetah, seeing this opportunity, also rushed him, and with each others help they managed to pin him under their combined weight.

"Please my friend. You must stop this! You must break free from Gryphons control!" Stripe pleaded to Chris as he tried to hold him down.

"Yeah, c'mon Chris, you can beat this. Just focus on not hurting us please!" Cheetah also said, trying to get Chris to not kill them.

"Useless. Your pathetic words will not break me free of my masters control." Chris said as he finally managed to throw off both Stripe and Cheetah.

"YES, HERE IT IS!" Gina yelled from the other side of the room, having finally found the Gem of Returning.

Gryphon, seeing the gem and knowing what it could do, ordered Chris to stop her.

"Dammit no! Slave, kill her, KILL HER NOW!" He screamed at Chris.

Forced to obey, Chris jumped as hard as he could towards Gina, with the intent of either slashing her with his claws, or crushing her with his stone body. But he missed, and instead ended up ramming face first into the wall.

"WHAT, NO." Gryphon screamed as he saw his slave miss in a way that could have only been on purpose. "How did you break my control."

But before his question could be answered, the Gem of Returning began to glow blindingly brightly. Nearly a thousand times brighter than before, and was turning all the statues back to normal. Even the ones in other parts of the city. The throne room must have amplified the gems energy.

"Jinkies, this place must be a major source of magical energy, cause that gem didn't work that well before." Gina said as she tried to blink away the bright dots now clouding her vision.

"Geez Gina, warn a girl next time you decide to light up a freaking supernova." Penny said as she rubbed her eyes.

-groan-

"Chris! Are you okay!?" Gina screamed in panic.

-hack-arrg- "Yeah, I'm okay. Now where's that fishy son-of-a-bitch. I need to kill him for making me hurt my friends." Chris said as he stood up.

-hmmp- "You fools," Gryphon said as he looked towards his slowly rising foes. "The power I now wield is more than you could possibly imagine. It will be a simple matter to change you all back into stone."

"I highly doubt that, you scaly bastard." Said Chris as he saw all the unpetrified Kryn rising up. "When you did that the last time Stripe was alone. But this time you have to deal with not only us, but the rest of the Kryn as well!"

hmm "Perhaps you are right." Gryphon replied as he looked around the room. "I shall retreat for now, but know this. You will all be destroyed by my hand!"

"He's fading away! Stop him!" Gina screamed out as Gryphon started to disappear.

"Hey the artifacts are fading too!" Penny said, as the ruby she had once again picked up also began to disappear.

"Nevermind that junk!" Cheetah yelled as she rushed over to Stripe. He was just getting up after Chris had knocked him into the wall. "Stripe! are you okay?"

"Christ Stripe, are you alright man. I swear I didn't mean to hurt you guys like that." Chris said as he looked at Stripe apologetically.

"It's alright Cheetah, I'm fine, and Chris, I know it wasn't your fault so I don't blame you in any way."Stripe said as he reassured Cheetah of his well being, and Chris of his innocence in his attack. "In fact, it appeared as though you were actually managing to fight his control off. If you jumping into a wall was any indication."

"Why did you do that anyway Chris!?" Cheetah asked.

"I don't know how... but for some reason, when I was turned into stone, I was completely aware of what was happening, and was able to fight off Gryphons control slightly." Chris explained, unsure of what had truly happened. "But as you all saw, it had so little an impact on my actions. It was a miracle that I could hold back as much as I did. And when he ordered me to kill Gina, I was only barely able to change my direction."

"Well regardless, you managed to stop yourself from killing us, so thank you my friend." Stripe said to Chris before he turned towards several of the Kryn that had just entered the room. "Now however, we must determine if he has the means to control the artifacts he has stollen."

"Unfortunately my prince, he does." Said Kryn that was dressed much like a scientist. "Not only that, but while we were under his control he forced us to make him a weapon of most terrifying power!"

"Then he means to use our artifacts to power said weapon. Obviously to either give to his masters the Lords of Atlantis. Or to use it against them and take control. Neither option is good. We must go to Atlantis to stop him!" Stripe said.

"I most certainly agree my prince. If Gryphon isn't stopped it could mean the end of the world." The scientist said, agreeing with Stripe. "But with atlantis being so far away, it will be impossible to get there in time."

"Don't fret folks." Gina said as she picked up her hat. "I can get us to Atlantis in no time flat, and Gryphon won't know what hit him...and I guess _you _can come too Penny."

"Sounds like fun, Gold Digger."

"Don't call me that." Gina said when Penny butchered her name once again. "Anyway... It's not everyday that I can discover **two** lost civilizations on the same expedition. And this also gives me a chance to skip my professors class tomorrow too!"

"I guess it's settled then." Chris said excitedly. The thrill of another adventure making him anxious. "Pack your swimsuits guys and girls. We're off to Atlantis!"

* * *

**AN:** So that's chapter two. Please let me know what you think via reviews. The third Chapter will hopefully be up soon. That chapter will also not have as many, if any, authors notes. Except at the end for any explanations. Also, for explanations, I chose not to deviate _too_ much from the original storyline, for right now, and the next few chapters, because I'm still new at this and I truly enjoyed the original story. This fanfiction is what I wish I could do if I were to be inside the story. Kinda like a self insert, in regards to my OC's personality. Just not in regards to family background.


	3. CH 3: Underwater Kingdoms!

Cheetahs Aren't The Only Endangered Species

Chapter Three: UNDERWATER KINGDOMS! How long can you hold your breath?

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the OC's

**AN:** Here's Chapter three. Also, just for those of you that might want to know the pairings. Chris will not be matched with any of the Digger sisters. That includes Brianna when she gets introduced. There really won't be a pairing for Chris for several more chapters.

"Hello" speech.

'_What the...' thoughts/flashbacks/Other_

* * *

Normal POV

When we last left off, our exploring heroes had just made the decision to go to the sunken underwater city of Atlantis, in order to stop the evil Lord Gryphon. A man who was now in control of a weapon of mass destruction made by the kryn, a species that which he had enslaved. Their travels have led them to the middle of the ocean, where we now see Chris, the Diggers girls, and several other people that would be able to aid in the success mission, as they prepared to travel down into the depths, to find the sunken city, and save the world. Unfortunately their methods of transportation were causing some slight worry, for a few of our adventurers.

"Okay... _we're what?_"

"Yeah Gina, run that by us again, and this time don't mumble, cause it sounded like you said we're going to Atlantis in your car."

Chris and Cheetah were starting to wonder just how sane Gina truly was. After all it was impossible to just _drive_ down to Atlantis... Right?

"You two heard me the first time, and I didn't mumble either. We are indeed taking my **car** to Atlantis." Gina told the two were-cats as she finished some adjustments to said automobile.

"Uh-huh. Right. And exactly how is that going to work Gina." Chris said with more than a little disbelief. "No offense, but regardless of how cool your car is, it just doesn't seem that waterproof to me."

"Agreed! Your car gets its engine flooded whenever you hit a rain puddle. How in the world do you expect us to go 3000 leagues under water without drowning, or being crushed by the pressure?"

"That was the old "Gina-Mobile", Cheetah! Feast you eyes on the new and improved "Gina-Mobile" Gina said to her sister as she stood up to present her wonderful new vehicle.

"Still looks like the same old clunking lemon to me." Cheetah was less than impressed.

"Agreed, though I will say that the concept of taking a car to the bottom of the ocean is a grand idea for a novel." Chris said as he was once again writing in his notebook. "I don't think that my car will be pink and yellow, however. The colors just aren't me, you know."

-che- "Dull minds like the two of yours _have _always, and _will _always, scoff at the things that which they can't comprehend. You two are just a couple of Igors." Gina said to her two companions.

"Okay first things first. My degree may only be in english, so a scientist like you may not consider it to be great, but who is it that still needs to attend university at this point. Not me that's who. So don't call me Igor." Chris said in order to defend his intelligence. "And I never said that I didn't believe that it was _possible_ to go underwater in a car. I just said that yours does not look waterproof. Which it really doesn't."

"Fair point. You, Chris, are not an Igor. Just my sister is." "HEY!" "Anyways, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover Chris. I've made dozens of modifications to this car." Gina said as she began her description of the car. "For instance, I've installed a magnetic force field that will allow the hull and chassis to withstand almost any amount of pressure, its tachyon-charged internal combustion engine can move it through water at two hundred knots, and the electron-neutronic field I used to seal the hull make this baby a technological work of art and wonder."

"Well, whatever. I'm going to be going down in Penny's mini-sub with Stripe. Miss self-proclaimed super-scientist. And don't call me Igor, or next time I'll use you face to polish your car." Cheetah said to her sister. "In fact, here he comes now in Ace's osprey. I'm gonna go over to meet them on the helipad. I promised I'd let Stripe see my human form today." She said as she headed over to the area of the hover-carrier that the osprey was landing on.

-heh- "He sounds like he's as curious about you being a were-cheetah as you are about him being a half-cat, half-human hybrid alien called a Kryn from the ancient lost city of gold, El Dorado." Said Chris as he stood up from where he was leaning on Gina's car. "I'll come with you. I've been meaning to talk with Tark and Mesha about magic anyways. If I can, I would love to learn a few tricks. Especially since your father says I have a slight aptitude for it."

That's right, when Chris and the other three had returned to the Diggers home before leaving for the ocean, Chris asked Dr. Diggers why he had been able to withstand Gryphons control like he had. Regardless of the fact that it was only just barely. It turns out that immunity to mind control, and other types of manipulation magic, was the enhanced gifts that the were-leopards received from Iceron when they were first made. Dr. Diggers actually guessed that the reason the were-leopards got away from Iceron was because of this immunity to being controlled.

The reason Chris was only slightly immune, was because his enchantment had only been unsealed for a year, and it would take at least a full month more of him remaining in his hybrid form fully before he fully gained his immunity. This also meant that he might be able to learn some magic after he fully unlocked his immunity. Though according to Dr. Diggers, since the immunity took up most of his aura, the so called 'skin' of the soul, he would only be able to learn low level spells, but he could become a war mage. A mage that utilized their ki, the energy that exists within the soul.

Dr. Diggers explained that when used properly a war mage can focus their ki through seven focal points called 'chakras' as chi, in order to use that energy to affect the physical world. It does this in the form of energy powers, like the ones from Dragonball Z. Some can even use their aura to enhance these powers and even use some minor spells. Chris hoped that one day he might be able to get that far, but without a proper teacher to get him started as a war mage, it might be too difficult.

Luckily however, Dr. Diggers, Tark, and Mesha were able to teach him a few basic exercises to begin getting control over his magic. These exercises would only allow him to learn the lowest level of spells, such as fireball, telekinesis, and mana bolt, until he could better learn to control his ki and chi. But Chris was okay with that, because after learning how to access his ki he was more than excited to begin experimenting with it. He had even begun to start creating a few offensive, defensive, and supportive, techniques, or spells as they were still called, that would hopefully, when finished, aid in his adventures.

"Be sure to tell everyone that I will not be going down in Penny's sub with you guys." Gina told Chris and Cheetah as they walked away. "I'll lead the way in my car instead."

"Maybe I will maybe I won't" Cheetah responded.

"Wait, so there isn't room in there for me to come?" Chris said. "I was hoping to catch a ride in the car."

"Well maybe we can squeeze you in, along with someone else."

"Cool, thanks Gina." Chris said as he went to catch up with Cheetah.

'_Well, back to work for me...'_ Gina's thoughts were cut off as she noticed Penny making her way over to her.

"How the heck do you expect me to move my mini-sub into launch position with you, and that crate you call a car, blocking the entire bow of my hover-carrier." Penny asked as she approached Gina. "Here's the remote for the port-side crane, use it to get that cheap piece of junk out of the way. It most certainly won't be able to move by itself."

"Oh c'mon, what is this. Pick on Gina's car day. Seriously." Gina said in response to Penny's demand. "And get that stupid remote out of my face, before I lose my cool."

"Listen to me now, Gina Diggers, or should I say _Gold Digger_. This is my ship, and what I say happens, is what happens." Penny said in an effort to take command. "And I say **move** that ugly hunk of junk NOW."

""Okay fine Penny Pincer, or should I say _Penny Pincher_, no problemo." Gina said as she grabbed the remote from Penny. Only to quite obviously drop said remote, with the intention of breaking it. Which it did. "Whoops! It slipped." She said in a deadpanned tone of voice.

"OOOOooooohhhh! You'll pay for that you little skank!."

"Whore!"

"SLUT!"

"HEIFER!"

* * *

Meanwhile, over at the helipad on the other side of the ship, with Cheetah and Chris.

"Yo, yo! Wassup!" Cheetah said as she got closer to the helicopter.

"Hello, how was the ride?" Chris said as he walked up from behind Cheetah. Giving her a funny look due to her greeting.

"Hello Cheetah, Chris. Ace and I have returned with your friends." Stripe replied in greeting. "And the flight was quite pleasant."

"Hey there guys. 'Scuse me while I finish up my after flight check on this baby." Said Ace as he began checking on his helicopter.

"Hiya Honey-buns! Ya miss me. Well here's a hug." Cheetah said with enthusiasm as she excitedly gave her man a hug.

In the background Chris walked over to Tark and Mesha to try and discuss magic with them. Regardless of his inexperience.

"Okay Cheetah, if you say so." Was Stripes much less enthusiastic reply to Cheetah's hug.

" 'If you say so.'? What's wrong Stripe. You're not going cold on me... are you? I thought we had a relationship going on?" Cheetah asked with nervously.

"Oh, it's not that." Stripe explained. "I just thought that you would be in human form right now. I was hoping you would relax today, and let me take care of the rough stuff..."

"And you're curious as to what I look like as a human. Right?" Said Cheetah as she shifted to her human form. "Tadah! The total package. And check out my new stretchy swimsuit too. Like what ya see?"

"Heh. Gina was right. You're incredibly cute... but you're also a complete shrimp as well." Stripe said as he looked Cheetah up and down, approvingly. "It's too bad you're stuck like this for twenty-four hours."

"Wait, you're stuck like that!?" Chris said, breaking off his conversation with Tark and Mesha, from the background when he heard that.

"Well, **EXCUUUSE** me!" Cheetah said indignantly. "You're the one who wanted to see what I looked like as a human. You..you..."

"Calm down Cheetah. Stripe was most certainly only jesting." Mesha said as she walked over to the couple with Tark and Chris.

"Well he wasn't very funny, Mesha." Cheetah replied.

"Hold on. Back it up. You can only shift every twenty-four hours?" Chris asked Cheetah curiously. "But you've been a were-cheetah for your entire life. You mean you haven't figured out how to change at any time?"

"Well...yeah! Why? Can YOU change whenever you want?" Cheetah asked with a bit of doubt in her voice..

"Of course I can." He said as he did just that, changing to human form, to leopard form, and back to hybrid form. "I managed to do it only a month or so after my enchantments were unlocked." He said as he explained how he learned to change any time. "What do you do when you shift forms. Maybe I can help you learn how too."

"I just focus on the form I want, and just... will myself to change... I guess." Cheetah told Chris. "What do you do?"

"I focus on an image of the moon, as well as the form I wish to take. Along with visualizing my body shifting, and then tensing my whole body and immediately relaxing, right before I will myself to change." Chris explained to Cheetah. "It took me awhile to learn how to do it this way. If you try it, it might not work at first. Just FYI."

Cheetah, after hearing Chris' explanation, closed her eyes in order to try and do as Chris said he did. The five people around her, Chris, Tark, Mesha, Stripe, and Ace, who had finished his helicopters check up, were all looking at her as she attempted to change. For a moment it looked like she was going to succeed, and become a were-cheetah again. Tark, Mesha, and Chris could even feel the energy she was using to change, though the latter only barely. Unfortunately, she seemed to lose focus right before she finished changing. Giving a tired sigh, as she opened her eyes.

-sigh- "Damn. I could feel myself almost change. But it looks like I might need more practice." Cheetah said, dejectedly.

"It's okay Cheetah. It took me a few days practice before I got it. Luckily it gets incredibly easier after you manage to do it once." Said Chris, trying to cheer her up. "But being in hybrid form is always more comfortable, if you ask me."

" Yes, I believe you have also stated that it is more comfortable for you to be in your hybrid form." Said Stripe to Cheetah. "I'm sorry I was so pushy in wanting to see your human form. I just really wanted to see it. Maybe you can practise on the sub."

"Anyways, people. We're all ready to go down to Atlantis with you guys, so let's go!" Said Tark. "Mesha and I are more than ready to assist in any way we can."

""Yes. As elven magic-users, my consort Tark and I are most positive that we will be able to help in defeating that mysterious wizard who attacked Stripe and the rest of the Kryn." Said Mesha, backing up her husband. "Stripe informed us of Gryphon when he told us about how he met you two and Gina."

"We also spoke of how you and Gina rescued Mesha and I from being the slaves of that evil dragon, Dreadwind. I recall that you and Gina were looking for the time machine that Dreadwing had in his possession. The same time machine that helped Dreadwing commit unspeakable horrors." Tark explained to Cheetah. "If you and Gina hadn't in time to stop him from learning how to work the time machine... I don't know what the world would have done with the havoc he would begin."

"Waitaminute. Dragons, time machines, world ending havoc! COOL! You and Gina _have_ to tell me that story when we get back home Cheetah. It would make an amazing story." Chris said as he began gushing about how amazing a novel that story would make.

"Maybe Chris, maybe. And we got lucky on that one Tark." Said Cheetah, ignoring the ravings of Chris from behind her.

"Well I for one, am happy I wasn't involved in **that** adventure." Said Ace.

"By the way guys. Gina won't be coming with us in the mini-sub. Chris might not either."Said Cheetah.

"Why not? She and Stripe are the only ones that know how to get there. Don't tell me she's not coming." Ace said worriedly.

"Naw. She's still coming. She's just taking her car instead." Cheetah said, as if it wasn't the weirdest thing in the world to say.

"She's what?"

* * *

Back with Gina and Penny.

"I have half a mind to make you **walk** back home right now Gina Diggers. Cause nobody disrespects me on my own ship." Penny told Gina in an extremely frustrated voice.

"HA. You call this a ship? The only thing keeping this thing floating is a cork plug and a prayer." Gina said in response. "You know, I can tell that it was you who built this scrap heap Penny. After all, there aren't many who would make a hover-carrier out of **lego**, are there."

"Hey Gina!"

"Huh" Gina turned her head to see who had called for her.

"Y'know, for a couple of geniuses with over 200 on their IQ's, you two sure are stupid." Said Cheetah as she walked up with the rest of the explorers.

"She started it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Enough already! Since we're all here let's get this show on the road. Gina. Who're you taking in your car?" Chris said. "You _are_ leading the way. Right?"

"Right. Anybody want to come with me? I drive carefully, I promise!" Gina said as she got into her car.

"I'll go." Came Mesha's reply.

"Mesha!?" Her husband was surprised to say the least.

"It's alright Tark. I'll be fine." She said to reassure her husband.

"Oooh. Wait. Can I go in the car too?" Chris suddenly asked, his attitude pulling an abrupt one-eighty at the chance of riding in the car. "I should be able to fit if I shift to my leopard form. I don't know why, but it's really small compared to my hybrid form."

"I think your hybrid form is so big because the magic that comes from your enchantment simply built it up, since it wasn't being used, but still needed the most magic of your three forms. Your normal for likely grew regularly since you were always in it, and you leopard form hasn't really got a chance to grow at all." Mesha hypothesized. "But now that your enchantment is unlocked it will likely grow to be much larger the more you change into it, due to the magic you now have access to."

"Well whatever the reason, if your feline form can fit then you can come." Gina said.

"Awesome. I got some new tricks I made after learning from Dr. Diggers that I want to try. They should be incredibly useful as well." Chris said as he shifted into a small . "I got three moves, one offensive, defensive, and supportive, that I've been itchin to try out!"

"Show off." Cheetah muttered in the background. She really wished that she could change as well. But she was happy that her animal form was just as large as his. Not knowing that his form would grow by nearly two feet in the coming months, due to a continued use of this form.

""Just get this junk heap out of the way. I need to move my sub into position." Said Penny. "And the others hafta change into their swimsuits."

VROOOOOM

"Che. She's just jealous cause I've got a stereo and bucket seats and she doesn't." Said Gina after she started the car and closed the cockpit on herself and her two companions. "Chris, Mesha. Hold on, it's time to rock and roll."

"Y-you know what Gina. I think I've changed my mind. You and Chris can go by yourselves." Mesha stuttered out as the car drove to the edge of the boat at an extremely fast pace.

"Too late Mesha. You're in this till the end." Chris told Mesha as he sat between both her and Gina..

"Switching to aquatic mode. Better lower my RPMs, don't want blow the hydraulics after all." Gina said right as they went over board and landed on the water. "Oh, goody! We're still alive. My tachyon-wave generator didn't blow up."

"You know you shouldn't joke like that Gina. You're freaking out Mesha." Chris told Gina as he watched Mesha almost have a panic attack.

"Who says I was joking?" Gina said to Chris. Who now had an incredulous look on his face.

"Can I walk!?" Mesah asked suddenly. "Can I please, please, please walk!?"

"Oh relax guys. The only thing we need to worry about is the electro-neutronic field system." Said Gina in what appeared to be a reassuring gesture. "If that fails on us, then the only thing that we'll lose is our atoms!" Ok maybe it wasn't _that_ reassuring.

AAAAHHH "No brakes! No brakes!" Gina suddenly screamed after they had descended farther down into the water.

"YEEEEK"

Mesha screamed after Gina said that. Closing her eyes and immediately grabbing onto the nearest body that she could. Said body belonged to Chris, who now had his face mashed between Mesha's impressive bust. Not that he was complaining, but he was slowly losing oxygen. As well as cracking his neck.

"Air...need...air!" Chris wheezed weakly.

-giggle- "Geez Mesha. I was only kidding. No need to suffocate Chris with you boobs y'know." "gina told the terrified elf. "Though I doubt he minds _that_ much."

Mesha, who had calmed down slightly, realised what she was doing to Chris and frantically pushed him away, blushing like a tomato the whole time.

"Sorry Chris." She muttered.

"It's no problem Mesha. But you really shouldn't do that Gina. I'd like to actually make it to Atlantis before facing something life threatening." Chris said to Mesha while slightly scolding Gina. "It's pretty down here at least. Even if there's not much to look at."

"Yeah. It is." Said Mesha as she began to calm down. "But shouldn't Penny and the others be down here already?"

"Yes they should. I'll give them a call." Gina said as she grabbed the radio. "Gina to Ace-come in stud-muffin."

* * *

Back on deck in Penny's sub, suspended over the water.

"Okay seriously. Someone needs to tell her to stop calling me that." Ace said in frustration.

Penny chose to do just that.

"Dammit Gina, if you try and hit on my boyfriend one more time-"

"One lousy date doesn't make us committed you know."

"Well I was the one who paid for the date. I should get something." Penny replied as she hung up the radio.

"You only paid for it because you dragged me into a fancy restaurant where the meal cost two hundred bucks. I told you before we went that I couldn't afford that, but you didn't listen."

"Hey Ace. Did you tick anybody off on your way here?" Cheetah suddenly asked as she looked out the window.

"Hmm... As a matter of fact I did Cheetah! But it was just some mercenaries trying to sneak past a U.S.A.F. Boeing E-3 Sentry. Four planes, two of which were high-tech MIG-35 Kingfishers, each with a cloaking device." Ace explained for the people in the sub. "I lit them all up with the microwave-laser on my osprey. Made it so only a blind, deaf man would miss them on a radar. Probably messed up their whole operation. But no need to worry, none of them could catch up to us, so we're in the clear."

"You might want to think again Ace." Cheetah replied worriedly. "Cause there's some planes coming up right now."

Indeed there were four planes coming up on the hover decks rear. Each of which had their weapons locked and loaded, and ready to fire on Ace and everybody else in the mini-sub.

"Get us out of here Ace!" Penny urgently ordered Ace to get them moving.

"Righty-o babe. Releasing crane-hook."

KRAAAK -ping- -ping-

"We're hit! Minor hull damage only, but our sensors got knocked out. We're completely blind!" Ace told his passengers. "Twenty feet till water...fifteen...ten...five...we're in the water guys. We should be out of immediate danger now."

"Yeah... but they're razing my hover-carrier, along with _your_ osprey, Ace!" Penny told him.

"THOSE SKUNKS!"

* * *

Meanwhile, not far from the mini-sub, just under water.

Chris and Mesha were looking out the window of Gina's car, in order to see what was happening to their friends. Only to see that the hover-carrier was experiencing some difficulties.

"Gina, something strange is happening to the hover-carrier."

"Not now Mesha, I'm on level six." Gina said as she played street fighter on her cars built in game console.

"And the carrier's been bombed." Chris said back, worried about his friends. "It's looks like the others are okay, but...wait... is that..IT IS. Gina we got a couple of Kingfishers coming from behind. Looks like they're after the sub."

bzzzztt

"Gina! We need help now!" Penny said as her face appeared on the screen that Gina had been playing on. "We're under attack by some mercenaries. They knocked out our sensors when they sunk my hover-carrier, and we can't fight back. Help Us!"

blip

The footage suddenly cut out as the sub appeared to be hit by something outside.

"I knew something was foul was afoot." Mesha said.

"Really Mesha, the sinking of the hover-carrier wasn't enough?" Chris said back sarcastically.

"Quiet you two. We need to go save Penny and the others."Gina told her two companions.

"Wow Gina. I didn't think you cared about Penny." Chris said.

"Well seeing as how she owes me thirty thousand bucks, I can't just let her croak before she pays me back."

Chris just looked at her, as if to say that, that couldn't be the only reason she was rescuing them. Gina ignored him. Even though she still had to wonder how he managed to give her a look like that when he had the face of a cat.

"Uh...Gina, Why are we speeding up." Mesha asked, as the car had indeed been accelerating. "I thought we were trying to go slow. And why are we passing them?" She asked as they passed the two planes.

"Heh! This is still like neutral Mesha. Wait till I really punch it." Gina said as she gave Mesha a smirk. Chris and Mesha just gulped nervously. "And we're passing them because the only weapons on this thing are my waterproof land mine launchers. The only way to make them effective is to go in front... and churn up the waters."

The moment she said that the land mines were launched from the back of the car, and sent scattering through the water towards the planes. Unfortunately the planes were clearly being piloted by professionals. Since every one of them missed.

"You missed Gina." Chris stated.

"How dare they dodge my mines. Do they have any idea how much these things cost!?"

"INCOMING! They've opened fire!" Chris suddenly shouted.

KABOOM

"AAAAAAHHHH"

* * *

Over in the mini-sub.

"Okay Ace, try the sensors now." Penny said from where she was doing repairs.

"Sensors back. Good job Penny." Ace said back. "Now prep the torpedoes and give em hell!"

"Right"

Penny launched the torpedoes at the two planes, but before they could get anywhere near them, Gina's car was hit by enemy fire.

"Oh, no! The bastards just got Chris, Mesha and my sister with a critical hit!" Cheetah exclaimed as she looked towards the car through the window.

As this was happening, the two planes had managed to, once again, avoid all the weapons being fired at them, and in the process get out of the water and back into the that they would be back to finish Ace off at a later date. Not that the two groups knew that, as they were celebrating over their success in driving the two planes away.

"YEAH-BOY! Look at them 'll be thinking twice before they try and take me on again!" Ace said excitedly. Penny gave him a funny look.

"Hey blowhard. I was the one that did all the shooting!" She said.

"That's not important!" Said a panicky were-cat in human form. "What about the others. They got hit in all the excitement! We need to get to them!"

"Oh right! They might be hurt. Did anybody see where they went?" Ace asked his passengers. Stripe spoke up.

"I believe I know where... and if I'm right... then they are in major peril."

* * *

Elsewhere, in the deep dark depths of the ocean, Gina, Mesha, and Chris, are currently spinning out of control, as they descend into a tunnel leading to places unknown.

"I think I'm going to be ill." Said Masha, who was at the time holding Chris to her chest in fear.

"Hey, hey, hey. Not on me you're not. Let go!" Chris said as he struggled to free himself from Mesha's grip. Regardless of how nice it was.

"Hold on you two! The computers almost done its diagnostics program." Gina told them as she examined the computer. "After I find out what's wrong I'll be able to figure out how to fix it, and we can get back to the others."

"But we're still accelerating Gina! How can we get back to the others if we're stains on the ocean floor!?"

"Chris is right Gina! How do we slow down."

"Look I'm currently surprised that we aren't atomized yet so just be patient." Gina said hurriedly. -ping- "Done!Here's the diagnostics report. 'Tachyon Generator on **Critical Mass Build-Up**... Start Panicking'"

Chris had but one word to say to that. And it summed up their situation perfectly.

"Shit."

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

"We're still accelerating Gina! What should we do!" Chris screamed at the two screaming women beside him.

"There's nothing we _can_ do. We'll hit rock bottom in less than a minute, and what's worse is that our atom will be scattered across the galaxy right after we hit!"

"Oh you are so not driving again."

"Hey what about _you_ Mesha?" Gina asked accusingly. "Can't you use your magic to get us out of this!?"

"I could if the metal we find ourselves surrounded by wasn't screwing up my aura!" Mesha exclaimed angrily. She was not happy that Gina was trying to pin this on her. "I'm powerless when I'm near or touching metal. Powerless!"

"Don't blame this on Mesha, Gina. Let's just pray and hope for-"

"Hey! Do you feel that!?" Gina suddenly said. "We're slowing down...no, we've stopped!"

Curious as to why they stopped suddenly, Chris leaned his neck forward to get a better look at the dashboard computer, and saw the empty fuel gage.

"Oh thank god for your forgetfulness Gina!" Chris said happily.

Gina was flabbergasted. "Huh?"

"The tanks empty. You forgot to fill up before we left." Chris explained.

"That means we're safe...right?" Asked Mesha.

"Sure does! Cancels the mass critical build-up too!"

"That's nice Gina. But where are we?" Chris asked.

"Good question. Let me hit the lights to seeeeEEEEEEEEEKKK"

Gina cut herself off with a scream as she turned on the lights. The reason being that there was a large monstrous face carved into the stone wall in front of them.

"Zoinks!" She said out of nowhere. "I've got to get a picture of this statue. Where's my camcorder!?"

"Oh why for the love of god is there not enough room in here for three humans!?" Chris asked in a whiny voice. "I so need to write this down. My next book is getting published soon, and I need more ideas for my next project."

-blink blink-

"Uh... guys. I think that thing moved." Mesha said, unsure of herself.

"It did!?" Exclaimed an excited Chris.

"Oh don't be silly Mesha. Same with you, Chris." Gina said as she continued to look for her camcorder. "It's a statue, it can't move."

-blink blink- -crunch-

"Say that to Stripes people, and the fact that it just opened its mouth!" Screamed Chris.

VWOOOOOOOSH

"Argh, what's happening."

"The statue opened its mouth Gina, we're being sucked in." Answered Mesha.

"LOOK OUT FOR THE ROCKS!"

"WHAT ROCKS!"

CRASH

* * *

Later, in an underwater cavern...

Chris, who was still in his feline form, slowly began to open his eyes after having been unconscious for an unknown amount of time.

"_Erg... what hit me. I feel like I got hit by a truck." _He thought as his vision slowly began to clear up and he started to see straight. He felt something soft stroking his head. _"Wait... that statue, the car, GINA! MESHA!"_

Snapping out of his still half asleep state, he found himself resting on a cushion with his head on the lap of what appeared to be a set of scaled female legs. The soft feels he had felt earlier was said females hand petting his head. Jumping up in shock he turned to face whoever it was that had been petting him, and growled. For in front of him stood what could only be described as a member of Gryphons people, but better looking. If the gills and scaly skin were anything to go by.

Looking past her however, he saw that there was also a human standing around in what could only be called a toga, along with another fish person, a male this time, who were standing over Gina and Mesha. Each of which was now dressed in similar, if not more simple, garbs, as that of the woman whose lap his head was resting on. Though said clothes were really nothing more than a revealing swimsuit/toga crossbreed.

"GINA!, MESHA!" He yelled, as he jumped from his position from the other side of the room towards his friends, crossing the forty or so feet in a single bound.

Landing on top of Gina's bed near her head, he growled at the green clothed human who stood next to the two beds. Said human was extremely surprised at seeing him talking. As were the fish people, if their sudden and quick speech between themselves, in whatever language it was they spoke, was anything to go by.

"Gina! Wake up, right now!" He said fairly loudly into her ear.

"Hmm, what? Ok, ok, I'm up, I'm..." She trailed off after noticing that she was not in her car. "Good grief! Where are we Chris!? What happened!? And where's my GINA-MOBILE!?" She asked, screaming that last part.

"In order, we're prisoner, since there's fish people. We crashed and these guys captured us. And finally, I don't know, I haven't seen it." Was Chris' response.

"Wait. Fish people?" Gina said questioningly as she looked around more, and in the process saw the other two, awake, humanoids in the room. "Jinkies! They have gills, we must be in Atlantis, and they must be Gryphons people. We really are prisoners."

-mmmmf- -erg-

Looking towards Mesha, the two saw that she was slowly waking up.

"Mesha! Mesha, wake up!" Chris said as he hopped over to Mesha's bed. "Dammit Mesha! WAKE UP!"

Hearing that last part screamed at her woke her up extremely quickly.

"Aahg! I'm up, I'm up!" She screamed back. "Oh, god, Why is it so hot in here. An elf like me needs AC."

Rolling over, she saw Gina and Chris, before she looked around more, and noticed the other occupants in the room.

"Chris? Gina? Where are we? And why are we dressed so... strangely...?" She asked. "Not that it's a problem. It's far too hot for what I wore earlier."

"We appear to be in Atlantis, and if so then the humidity is likely outrageous." Chris explained.

"There's also our guests here as well, Mesha." Gina said while gesturing towards the fish man. Who responded, once again, in their own language.

"What'd he say, Gina?"

"That's the problem. Neither Chris, nor myself have a clue as to what they're saying."

"Well I might have a spell that can fix that. It's called 'True Hearing'. It should make it so that we can understand each other."

Before she could cast it however, Chris interrupted. While, at the same time, he tore the sheet covering the bed off, and covered himself.

"Don't bother Mesha. These people are likely messing with us. We should really just blast 'em!" He said as he shifted back into his hybrid form underneath the blanket. He then proceeded to turn it into a toga, similar to the ones that the other men in the room were wearing. If only slightly less functional. "These guys have been at war with Stripes people for how long? If they can't speak english, then I'm a were-rat."

Right after he finished saying that, his hand became encased in a glowing, green, flame-like aura. With claws taking a rough shape around his fingers. Mesha looked at him, impressed that he had managed to advance so far in just a few days, while Gina looked at him in surprise.

_'I guess that's part of his offensive technique he was mentioning earlier.'_ She thought as she looked at his arm. _'I wonder what his defensive, and supportive techniques are like?'_

"Apologies, Chris. We do indeed speak your language." Said the human male. "We are sorry for the deception, but we needed to learn more of your intentions."

"Indeed. We were simply testing you." Said the woman whom which had been petting Chris. "We needed to see if you were a threat, and it seems you might be." She said this as she looked, shocked, at Chris, his transformation, and his glowing claws, which he did not seem to want to put away.

"Yes, please accept our apologies, but Gryphon has a great number of spies. Spies that could, in fact, pretend to be upper-worlders like yourselves." Said the green fish man. "However, with Chris' transformations there is no doubt that you are indeed from the surface."

"Wait, so you're _not_ Gryphons troops." Gina asked. "And Chris, put those claws away. They're not needed... yet..."

Chris did so reluctantly.

"Never!" The man in green vehemently replied. "We are warriors of the **true** ruler of Atlantis!"

"Who would be me." Said a female voice from behind a curtain covering what must've been the doorway. "I am Tyr, and I am, unfortunately, Gryphons half-sister."

Looking towards the curtain, Chris, Mesha, and Gina, all saw a well dressed and very beautiful woman, who still had scales and gills, Step out from behind the curtain. Unlike the other woman, who was purple, this woman was of the same blue/green coloring that had been previously seen on the very person they had come to defeat. Her apparent half-brother, Lord Gryphon. She, however, wore a crown that looked as though it was meant for her. Unlike Gryphon, who wore the crown that he had stolen from Stripe and his people.

"It was I who rescued you from one of Gryphons traps, and I also used my powers in order to heal you all. You were all in pretty bad shape, we were almost unable to save _you_ in particular Chris." She said, startling the three surface dwellers. "We were unsure if we should attempt to rescue what we had thought was a simple, yet large, pet. I have also never encountered a feline before. So even though Atlanteans, Kryn, and Humans, all share similar basic biology, it was difficult to know if I had fixed everything correctly. Luckily you apparently have a very fast healing ability, so I believe there is nothing to worry about."

After hearing this, Chris closed his eyes and entered into a meditative trance in order to assess his body, and make sure that everything was okay. After a few moments, and seeing that he was okay, he opened his eyes again and looked towards Princess Tyr, right as Gina began to speak.

"If that's the case, Tyr, then thanks for saving us, we owe you one." She said to Tyr. "Chris, any problems?"

"None that I can feel, but still, Mesha can you double check for me?"

"Sure thing Chris." Mesha said as she began to scan him with her magic. "All done, and no problems, your self sensing was spot on."

"Thanks." Chris said to Mesha. "And thank _you_, Tyr, for rescuing us. Though I still need to ask... why. Why did you save us, and how did you know we were here?"

Tyr paused for a moment to think before she responded.

"Not long ago, Gryphon returned to Atlantis, and declared that he would wage war with the surface world, conquering all who would oppose him." She explained. "We had hoped that since you were caught in Gryphons trap that you were his enemy and, in that case, possible ally. So please, tell me, why did you come here? Was it to destroy Gryphon, or to surrender to him."

"That creep! We're here to kill his butt!" Was Gina's reply.

"Indeed. I have several things I wish to do to him before he dies. None of which will be pleasant." Chris said, with a menacing look in his eye.

Mesha didn't say anything, but it was clear that she was ready to help her friends.

"Thank goodness for that. It relieves me so much to hear you say that. For you had **this** in your possession when we found you." Said Tyr, as she held out the Gem of Returning. "This is a treasure that we absolutely cannot allow to fall into Gryphons hands."

"The Gem of Returning? But I thought that all it was good for was finding El Dorado." Chris said as he looked at the gem. "What else can it do?"

"This gem has a number of powers, as well as information, stored within it." Try explained. "This gem hold information on many of the lost secrets of my ancestors. Hidden treasure, lost cities, ancient artifacts, and immeasurable power, as well as a few secrets of the universe. Only someone with great inner power and control would not succumb to its temptations, and use it for themselves."

"Well we certainly didn't, though that might just be because Gina over there didn't know what it did."

"Hey! Why'd you single me out Chris." At hearing Gina's complaint, Chris just gave her a look, as if to ask her if she was serious. "-grrrr- Whatever...By the way... you don't think that thing has instructions on how to shed some excess weight, do you?"

"I don't think it can work _that_ kind of miracle Gina" Tyr said with a slight laugh.

"Hmmm... what do you think Mesha." Gina said after a moments thought.

"It is as she said Gina." Mesha told her, as she leaned in to get a better look. "This gem holds a very dangerous power within it. The sheer _amount_ of power it radiates is enormous!"

"Yes, and it is with that power that it plan to defeat Gryphon, and save my kingdom." Tyr explained. "However, that means that I cannot return it to you. But in exchange, I will trade it for any treasure you wish to take from me."

At hearing this Gina's jaw dropped, and she began to drool at the thought of the treasure she would get. All for a small gem.

Chris looked at her, exasperated, and rolled his eyes before he closed her mouth with a small -click-.

"The power of this gem has been lost to my family for too long." Tyr continued, as she ignored Gina and Chris. "With it, I finally have the power to stop Gryphon, and halt his plans to wage war with the surface world!"

"Not so fast, Princess Tyr. I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Said the purple fish woman, who stood behind the group, on the other side of the room.

The moment the group heard her say that, and turned to face her, she had summoned four large monsters. Each of which looked mean, ugly, and hungry.

As they attacked the group, Chris managed to charge into, and knock back, two of the monsters, and began to fight the other ones. Cursing, as he activated his chi claws, as he called them, he tried to cut them, only to fight out that they had some very powerful magic resistance. His claws had barely scratched them. "Dammit, this sucks big time." He said as he dodged a swing from one of the monsters.

"Dyranna!? Why are you doing this? Answer me!" Tyr screamed at Dyranna, clearly shocked at seeing someone she had thought was her friend, betray her. "Why have you betrayed us!?"

While Tyr asked this question, the two monsters that Chris had managed to throw away had recovered, and had begun to attack both herself and Mesha. Each of them barely managing to create a shield in time to block the monsters strikes.

"I have betrayed no one, Princess. I have merely been deep undercover for the many long years that I have served you. But with the return of such an important gem, I can no longer remain under cover. Allowing you to keep that gem is out of the question!" Dyranna exclaimed. "These anti-demons will be more than enough to drain you all of you magic, long enough for me to steal that gem."

While she had been talking, the green fish man, and the human male, had both snuck around her and had silently gone for an attack from behind. Unfortunately, it was all for naught.

""Ah, ah, ah. I didn't forget about you two Garen, Tanis. Sneaking up behind me isn't very nice you know. Though I will admit that I''m impressed. Especially with _you_ Garen." As she said this she cast a spell on the two that froze them in place. Since her assailants were incapacitated, she continued her gloating. "You're just a human after all. It's such a shame you didn't drown in that ship wreck all those years ago. But regardless, all these years and none of you even suspected that I was loyal to Gryphon. Now why don't you two non-magic-users just sit in that stasis field, and watch."

In the background, Tyr, Mesha, and Chris, were each having trouble with their respective demons.

"Tyr! I can't hurt these things! My magic bolts just keep bouncing off. They immune to magic." Screamed Mesha, as yet another magic bolt simply bounced off the demon she was fighting. Tyr however, had her own problems.

"Keep trying Mesha. They must have a weakness of some sort." Tyr screamed as she created a shield and blocked a breath of flames from one of the monsters, who had begun to swing around the frozen Tanis like he was a baseball bat.

"Stop complaining you two, at least you have your magic to help you -whoa- I have to dodge everything, AND I have to actually hit them." Chris said as he continued to dodge the demons attacks. He was barely able to get any attacks of his own to hit, let alone do any damage. though his claws were becoming less rough, and more defined, as he continued to use them. They had even begun to slowly do more damage, even though it was still too little to do much.

"Oh be quiet you three you're hurting my ears." Dyranna said as she looked around. "Now where is that human female."

"Hold that pose you sea hag!" Gina screamed as she brought down a large metal pot on the head of unsuspecting the fish hag.

BONG!

Only for it to stop suddenly in mid swing, not far from her targets head.

"What the?!"

"Surprised? My force shield that I cast, after I froze the two nitwits, blocks anything that isn't magic." Dyranna said as she turned towards Gina. "You truly are an incompetent dolt, you know that."

"Uh-oh..umm.. Your shoe's untied..! Uh... Look! There's a spider on your shirt...!" Gina said as she tried to distract Dyranna as she backed away from said fish woman's glowing hands.

"Oh, shut up! Such attempts at distraction will do nothing, you idiot. You've certainly got some nerve though." Dyranna said as she began to charge up her spell. "Now pay the price for your impertinence."

"YOU FIRST, BITCH!" Was Chris' loud shout as he finally managed to do enough damage to one of the demons he had been fighting, to make it back off enough for him to maneuver the other into a position that he could use to throw it at Dyranna. Unfortunately, it appears that even though they were immune to magic, the demons still couldn't get through her force shield.

"HA, is that it. I already explained that only magic can..POW!" Dyranna had begun to talk back to Chris, but suddenly a magic bolt from Mesha, bounced off the demon she was facing, and had flown towards Gina, who had then used the pot she was holding to block it, and in the process the magic bolt reflected right at Dyranna. Thus knocking said woman unconscious.

"Oh my gosh! Gina! Are you alright!?" Mesha asked as she rushed over to Gina and Dyrana.

"Wait, what happened to the demons?" Tyr asked as the demons that everyone was fighting disappeared.

"I think they were dispelled when Mesha knocked Dyranna out." Chris said as he walked back over to Gina and the rest of the group. "She likely kept those demons under her _direct_ control. That way she wouldn't get attacked if she lost consciousness. Her other spells have also dispelled, since Tanis and Garen are moving again."

Indeed, Tanis and Garen were helping each other up after having been used as clubs. Luckily, the stasis field they were trapped in seems to have prevented them from actually receiving any damage.

Over with Gina and Mesha, as they knelt over Dyranna's unconscious form, Gina began to check her over to see how much damage she had taken.

"Is she..." Mesha trailed off at the end of her question.

"No, she's still alive. Unfortunately." Gina replied, though she muttered that last part.

"If she is alive then she can recover in our brig!" Tyr said as she looked around the floor. "A-hah! There you are!" she said as she picked up the gem that she had dropped. "She was Gryphon's spy and she failed. Next up will be her master!"

"Great! When our friends get here we can have a 'kick Gryphons ass' party." Chris said happily as he imagined the punishment they would all be able to dish out on Gryphon.

At hearing this Tyr looked at Chris in surprise, and panic.

"Wait, you mean you have more friends from the upper world... coming here!?"

* * *

Meanwhile, back with the other group in the mini-sub.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

"Yo Penny, stop screaming. I can't concentrate on getting us out of here with you bursting my eardrums!" Said Ace as he tried to maneuver the mini-sub out of the danger they had gotten into.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HH"

Penny however, continued to scream, and with good reason, seeing as how she and all the other people on the mini-sub were currently trapped within the grasp of an enormous octopus that had its tentacles wrapped around the mini-sub. The damn thing was huge, and easily capable of devouring the sub whole. If not for Ace's expert piloting. Though Penny was beginning to distract him. But the others were much calmer.

"So how are we gonna get outta this one? There's no more torpedoes, and whenever we break away this thing just grabs us all over again." Cheetah said, fairly calmly for a cat-girl in a flooding mini-sub.

"Well whatever we do, we'd best do it fast!" Stripe said as he glanced around the sub nervously.

"Get us out! Get us out NOW!" Penny screamed as she began to shake Ace's shoulders.

"I'm workin' on it!" Ace replied as Penny continued to shake him. Suddenly Ace snapped his head upwards. An idea having come to him. "Wait,I've got it! Penny, get ready on the manual release for the extra fuel canisters."

"Dammit Ace! I know what you're thinking, and it won't work." Penny screamed as she did what Ace told her.

"Well it's not like you've got any better ideas right now, is it!?" Ace snapped back. "Now stand-by for release."

As Penny waited for Ace's signal, the occupants of the mini-sub all held their breath, as Ace allowed the mini-sub to get entangled by the giant octopus' tentacles. Which in turn, caused the octopus to open its maw, and attempt to eat them.

Of course this freaked out Penny even more than before.

"YAAAH! It's too late Ace! We're all gonna die!" She screamed hysterically.

""NOW, release the fuel cells!" Ace yelled at Penny, who in turn pulled the lever for the manual release for the fuel cells. Though this wa purely out of reflex to Ace's yell, as she was still panicking, and was not fully in control of what she was doing. That changed, however, when Ace gunned the engine the moment the octopus closed its mouth around the two fuel cells. Thus breaking them free from the tentacles, and causing the octopus to recoil in pain since the fuel cells had exploded inside its mouth.

"HA! Told you it'd work Ace!" Penny screamed, having forgotten her previous fear.

"You know what Penny? I'm ignoring you." Was all Ace said in reply. "Alright Stripe, the topographic data from the sonar is on your screen. You think you can find our way to Atlantis with it?"

"Yes I can Ace. We are currently still on course." Stripe replied. "It's straight down from this position."

"Are we absolutely certain that Gina, Mesha, and Chris went down this way." Tark asked from his seat closer to the back.

Cheetah was quick to back up her man.

"Stripe said that he saw them coming this way, Tark. He knows what he's doing." She said to Tark. "Besides, this water's rising pretty fast. We should probably worry about **that** first!"

"I'm already working' on it Cheetah." Said Penny from the floor, near a control panel that she was taking apart. "Hand me the screwdriver, will ya Tark. The pump's on the fritz again."

"Okay, do you need a screw too?" Tark replied.

"Heh, no thanks. You're not quite my type."

"Was that a joke?"

"Steady as she goes people. We need to focus on...whoa!" Ace suddenly stopped talking in surprise. "What the! Guys! there's some crazy lookin' dude out there with glowing red eyes and hands."

"Glowing red Eyes?" Stripe questioned.

"Yeah! Is that weird or what." Ace continued. "Do you think he's a local?"

"Watch out Ace! That Atlantean must be Gryphon!"

" Well whoever he is, he's gonna regret messing with me." Ace said as he turned back to look at Stripe.

"**IS THAT SO!"**

* * *

Back with Chris and friends.

"Here we are my friends. The Pool of Legends. _This_ is how I knew you were in danger, as well as how I rescued you." Princess Tyr said as she led the group to a chamber, in which was a large glowing pool. "This pool has the ability to transport anyone who enters it anywhere they want, with but a wish."

"Well that's certainly cool. How does it work?" Chris asked as he looked at the pool in wonder. Gina and Mesha were also taking a closer look. With Mesha nearly leaning into it,

"I'm not quite sure, to be honest. I know how to _use _it, but beyond that the specifics of how it _works_, are a total mystery." Tyr explained in response to his question. "If you want to use it, then all you must do is picture what you wish to see in your mind, and enter the water."

"How do you get back?" Chris asked.

"The portal doesn't close unless it gets dispelled by magic, or cold iron." Tyr replied.

"Cool."

"Hey Tyr! By the way, what happened to my car?" Asked Gina after she had gotten a good look at the pool. "It didn't get scratched **too** badly. Did it?"

The two Atlanteans and Atlantis raised human each looked a little nervous at Gina's question.

"It's, well, perhaps you should see for yourself." Garen said as he led her around the corner to take a look at her car. "It's over here."

As Gina followed Garen around the corner, Chris looked towards Tyr and Tanis, the both of then still looking sheepish and nervous.

"By your looks I'm assuming that it's in worse shape than Gina thinks it is." He said blandly.

"MY CAR!" Gina screamed from around the corner.

"Well that answers that question!" Chris said.

"You have no one to blame but yourself Gina!" Mesha said after standing up from her examinations of the pool. "You _are_ the one who was driving afterall!"

After walking around the pool towards the area where Gina's car was, Chris and Mesha got a look at how bad a shape the car was in. And it was bad.

The entire front end had been pushed into a V shape. It had been flattened by around two feet at the hood. The wheels were bent into very non-circular forms. There were more scratches than could be counted, alongside a number of dents, and tears in the frame. All in all, it would not be driven again any time soon.

"We saved as much as we could!" Tanis said as he tried to calm Gina down. "If you were unable to do anything with it, we were going to use it for spare parts!"

Gina wouldn't have any of that. "Sorry Tanis!. But it's **my **wreck, and therefore **I** get first dibs on the scraps."

"That's fine... Um... do you still want the stereo deck?" Gina ignored his question.

"Argh, this would be so awesome if I just had my notepad! God, you guys just keep coming up with more and more material for my books. Yet I can't write _anything_ right now. Geez." Chris said as he finally voice his frustration at not being able to take notes for his novels. Gina's personality and interactions were a great inspiration.

"Calm down Chris, you'll get to write something soon." Mesha said. "Now Tyr. Is this pools how you had planned on attacking Gryphon and retaking Atlantis. Is there anyone else that will be helping us?"

Tyr had a crestfallen look on her face as she answered. "This pool is indeed how I had planned on attacking my half-brother. But unfortunately when he took over Atlantis, he used artifacts taken from the upper-world. Tanis and Garen are all that remain of my guard."

"Don't sweat it Tyr, we'll help you out." Gina called over from her position atop her car. "Just give me a few seconds to turn this scrap heap into something that can help. Garen, can you give me a hand!?"

As Garen moved to help her, Gina got that look in her eyes, that only appears when she's about to go boys crazy. Chris noticed this and called her on it.

"OY GINA! Focus on helping first,would ya!"

"Tch fine. Okay handsome... can you lift that big heavy orange box over there." Gina said as she told Garen what to do.

"Where should I put it?" He asked.

"Just over there please. Say, are you doing anything this weekend?"

"GINA!"

"Fine. Fine. Spoilsport."

As Chris kept Gina on track, Tyr was preparing the pool to teleport them to Gryphons location.

"Get ready my friends. I'm am going to use the pool to view Gryphon unnoticed so that we may know when to strike." She said.

"Neat! Can you get any good channels on it too?" Chris asked.

"No... only soap operas, and cartoons."

"You know it's a good thing that my nuclear resonator, and piezoelectric generators still have some juice in them." Gina said from the background as she continued to work on her tech. "Otherwise a meltdown would have occurred when the magnetic bubble on the plasma field collapsed and... I'm just so happy I don't have to clean up **that** mess."

"There... the image has formed. We can now see what Gryphon is now up to." Tyr said as she used the pool, revealing a terrible image. "It appears he has captives."

"God dammit! That bastard's got our friends captive! And he's torturing them too!" Screamed Chris, furious at seeing his friends being hurt. For indeed, the image that the pool showed, had Gryphon standing in the middle of a circular chamber with their friends being within red fields of energy that were clearly causing them pain, as they floated around Gryphon.

"TARK! He's torturing **my** Tark!" Mesha cried out, as Gryphons began to focus on Tark before moving on.

"They must have been captured on their way here." Tyr said.

"No, really. Your powers of observation amaze me." Chris stated sarcastically. "We need to do something now!"

"And I've got just the thing to blast Gryphon all the way to kingdom come!" Gina said from behind the group.

Turning around, the three turned around to face her. Only to see that she was sitting in a modified recliner that was floating on what appeared to be pieces of her car; only they were heavily altered.

"Ta-da! I present to you, the lazy-boy from hell!" She said to the slightly shocked trio. "It comes equipped with anti-gravity propulsion, photon torpedoes, _and_ a back massage. Overall, it's the perfect thing for taking out Gryphon, once and for all!"

Chris grins at the thought of all the pain Gryphon would soon be going through, and on his anthropomorphic face it looked absolutely terrifying.

"Perfect timing Gina. Now let's go before that slimy bastard can hurt our friends anymore than he already has."

* * *

In the middle of the cavern in which Gryphon is torturing Chris' friends, Stripe can be seen trying to distract Gryphon from torturing the others.

"Let them go Gryphon! This is between you and me, just like always! They have no purpose in being apart of this!" He screamed as he saw that he was approaching Cheetah. "Or are you a coward who would involve simple bystanders."

Gryphon paused in mid-step and turned towards Stripe before responding.

"You are in no place to be making demands of ME, Stripe, oh Lord of El Dorado! With the powers I have, thanks to your peoples artifacts, I could destroy you, and your friends, with but a thought. Just like I did my previous masters, the Lords of Atlantis!" Gryphon said as his eyes took on a menacing glow. "And your friends are no mere bystanders, Stripe. They have also interfered with my plans, and thus they deserve the same fate as yourself. I do so enjoy torturing you and your friends, as my armies prepare to invade the surface-world alongside my ultimate weapon."

"Dream on psycaaAAAHHHRRRRGGG!" Cheetah screamed, as Gryphon turned to focus his torture on her.

"SILENCE!" He screamed at her. "Ah yes. You. You're one of the lycanthropes that attacked me at El Dorado. Where' is the other one. I would love to make him into one of my statues. Yet again."

"Dammit Gryphon! If you harm her, I swear..."

"Silence fool! There is nothing you can do but watch." Gryphon said as he began to increase the magic that was hurting Cheetah.

"AAAAAHHHHH" She screamed as the pain became far worse than it had been.

"That's it! Scream. Scream in pain as I slowly take your life! AHAHAHAHA!" Gryphon laughed as he listened to Cheetahs screams.

"HEY ASSHOLE! PUT MY SISTER DOWN!"

"YOU TELL HIM GINA!"

Suddenly, a gateway appeared at the edge of the room, and out flew Gina on her chair, and Chris encased in a glowing armored aura.

"Who!?...**YOU!**" Gryphon screamed in rage at seeing just who it was that had interfered with his fun.

"Your tyranny ends here, dear brother." Yelled Princess Tyr as she and Mesha both blasted Gryphon with their magic, but unfortunately their blasts merely bounced off the shield Gryphon conjured.

As this was happening, Chris ran over to his floating friends, and began to try and rip apart their bindings. It worked a little bit, but not enough to truly be helpful.

"I see... you have the gem of the ancients, don't you, Tyr!" Gryphon said as he cast a beam of magic towards our heroes. "It is the only thing that would allow you to break past my wards, but it is not enough to save you!"

"Mesha! use your powers to 'wizard lock' this chamber!" Tyr yelled as she deflected Gryphons blast. Had she blocked it it would have destroyed her shield. "We cannot allow him to summon reinforcements. Tanis, and Garen can defend the doors."

"FOOLS!" Gryphon screamed, as he increased the power of his beams, finally breaking past Tyr's shield, and stunning both herself and Mesha. Though not before Mesha managed to 'wizard lock' the room.

"Pathetic. To think I was almost worried, but now.. I'm...wait,... what's... happening...?" Suddenly a light appeared from the ceiling, and Gryphon began to lose power as he fell to the ground in pain, unable to continue using his magic.

"_I'm_ happening Gryphon." Gina said from her chair, ten feet from the floor at the center of the room. "I figured that if you atlanteans are an aquatic race, you must need lots of water in the air. Hence the humidity. My ion-accelerator should be able dry you up into an unrecognizable husk."

"Wait, Gina. Turn it off!" Chris screamed, right after he managed to free Stripe and Cheetah.

"Huh?"

"Have you forgotten that Tyr, and Tanis are atlanteans too? You're killing them" Chris explained as he pointed out Tyr and Tanis to Gina. Each of which were on the floor, weakly trying to get away from Gina and her chair.

"Oh my gosh! Tyr, Tanis, hold on I'll turn it off right now!" Gina said as she began the shut-down for her chair. "Garen! Grab the gem and help Chris free the others."

"Right!" He replied.

"Mesha! 'wizard lock' Gryphon, so that he can't use magic anymore!"

"Of course!" Mesha replied. "My power is more than enough to seal him, in this state." "You'll pay for this!" "Be silent or I'll lock you mouth!"

As Garen helped Chris free the others, and Mesha locked Gryphon, Gina landed her chair and went to help Tyr, and Tanis. Both of them having recovered quite quickly.

"Are you two alright!? I swear I had no intention of getting you two caught up in my chairs weapons." She said as she helped Tyr and Tanis.

"It's alright Gina! Thanks to you and your device Atlantis is now safe, and Gryphons warmachines will soon be dismantled." Tyr said as she assured Gina that all was okay.

"Wow Gina. Is this your car? What happened to the rest of it?" Penny, who had been freed by Garen, suddenly questioned in a sing-song voice from behind Gina's chair.

As Gina and Penny started yet another argument, everyone else began to celebrate the fact that they were all okay. Mesha gave Tark a great big bear hug, after Chris had freed him, Cheetah was standing behind Gryphon, flicking his head as she told him how much he deserved this, Stripe stood off to the side and just gave her a few funny looks, and Garen was still freeing Ace from his confinement, as Chris had decided to help Cheetah in flicking Gryphon in the head. Though there were still some things that needed to be discussed. As such, Stripe decided it was time to speak up.

"Princess Tyr." He said. "The threat of Gryphon is gone... but the affairs between our respective countries are not!"

"Lord Stripe? I hadn't realized you were here!"

"Regardless, I speak of the war between our two homes, Atlantis, and El Dorado. The war has lasted for centuries, and it is time it stopped."

"So you've come to surrender Kryn?" Garen asked arrogantly.

"No, Garen." Tyr said as she looked towards Stripe. "I agree with Lord Stripe. The fighting between our people must end!"

As she said this, she walked over to where Gryphon was still bound, before reaching for the crown on his head.

"With the Evil Lords of Atlantis dead, thanks to Gryphons evil, peace can be achieved between our people. My thanks brother. It appears some good came from you after all."

Gryphon merely glared at her, as she took the crown and walked back to Stripe.

"I return all that he has taken from you Stripe. Here is the crown he first took from you." She said as she bowed to Stripe, and presented his crown. "I shall return any and all other items that he may have taken, when they are found. My there be peace between us."

"Speaking of which. Where _are_ the rest of Stripe heirlooms!?" Cheetah asked.

"Why don't we ask our evil little buddy here." Chris said as he walked over to Gryphon and placed a hand on his shoulders. Gryphon said nothing, and continued to glare at the people in the room. Chris decided to be a bit more forceful, as he began to squeeze a bit harder, causing Gryphon a great deal of discomfort. "Need I ask again!?"

Gryphon kept glaring for a few more seconds before speaking.

"They are over there. In my vault." He said as he gestured to a pair of large doors.

"Oooh, I'll get it. Maybe there's some extra stuff you don't need in there." Gina said excitedly as she went to open the door.

Suddenly Tark and Mesha, who had been focusing on keeping Gryphon bound, looked towards the door Gryphon had referred to.

"Mesha! I sense evil behind that door!" Tark exclaimed.

"GINA! DON'T TOUCH THAT DOOR!" Mesha screamed. Just as Gina touched the door.

Jerking her hand away, Gina looked back at her friends. Just as Chris charged towards her. "Uh-oh. I already di-." "GET DOWN!" She was cut off as Chris tackled her to the ground, and covered her with his body, in an effort to protect her from whatever was behind the doors

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Suddenly, the doors to the vault were blasted off their hinges, an explosion of great magnitude having engulfed both the doors, _and_ Gina and Chris. Who had both been at ground zero when the trap went off. Out from the doors came a colossal machine, that stood over a hundred feet tall. It had the body shape of a human, but had three heads, each with its own demonic look, with the center one having horns. Two left arms, each roughly the same size, and three right arms, the lowest looking nomal, the middle having claws, and the top being only half the size as any of the others, and coming out of the shoulder.

"There are you precious artifacts, Stripe! They power the most destructive weapon on earth!" Gryphon yelled in joy, as he saw his creation begin to move. "ARMAGEDDON! KILL THEM MY SLAVE! KILL THEM ALL!"

"MOVE! IT'S STRIKING!" Stripe yelled as he grabbed Cheetah and dove out of the way. Everyone else doing the same thing, with Ace grabbing Penny, and the others using magic.

"INCOMING!" Cheetah screamed as Armageddon's fist hit the floor. Right where Gryphon was still bound.

"There is no escape! HAHAHAH-" Gryphon was crushed by his own creation.

"My god! That behemoth just killed Gryphon!" Mesha exclaimed as she landed from her dodge.

"Good riddance." Was all that was said by everyone else.

"Did anyone see Gina and Chris. They weren't disintegrated by that explosion, were they!?" Stripe asked.

"Never mind them Stripe! That things about to barbeque us!" Screamed Penny, as Armageddon reared back its three head, each with a mouth full of flames.

"Quickly! Everyone get under my 'force wall'. It should be enough to block the heat from those flames!" Tyr yelled as she cast her spell.

"Geezus, Where's King-Kong when you need him!" Ace asked sarcastically. "We could certainly use a big ass monster of our own right now."

CRASH

"Oh no! It's broken through the citadel!" Tyr said in panic.

"What's so bad about that Tyr? Just let that sucka leave!" Ace yelled.

"It's worse than you think Ace!" Tyr replied. "Now, not only can it destroy the cities of the world! But it's also letting all the water out _there _in _here_!"

Right as she said that, Armageddon managed to fully get through the citadel. Allowing the water to flow into the room with more force than Tyr's wall could take.

"The water pressure is too great! Tanis and I will survive... but the rest of you will most certainly perish!"

"The shield is weaken-SPLOOSH- MY HAIR!" Penny shrieked.

"Girl! This is not the time to be worrying about your hair!" Ace yelled. "Is there _any _way for us to get outta here!?"

"THERE!" Tanis yelled "The portal we came through earlier! Hurry, before it's too late!"

As the group ran towards to portal Armageddon began charging it's weapons and fired an enormous beam of energy at the room it had previously been in, destroying everything that had been in its path.

FWOOOOSH

* * *

Back in the Pool of Legends Room.

"GAAH"

"It's Cheetah! She made it!" Garen yelled as Cheetah surfaced in the pool. "That's everyone. We all made it through okay!"

"Quickly help her out!" Stripe said as he and Penny dragged her out of the pool.

"-sniff- Phew. Cheetah! You smell like a wet kitten" Penny exclaimed as she helped Stripe drag Cheetah out of the pool.

"She _is_ a wet kitten Penny." Said Stripe as he stood up after Cheetah was out of the pool.

"Yeah Penny, and you don't wanna to know what you humans smell like to us were-cheetahs" Cheetah said as she glared at Penny. "At least my twenty-four hours are up. This human form is just too useless for me. I'll hafta practice changing forms again. Later, when Chris can teach me a bit better. I'm going hybrid."

Immediately after saying this, she changed forms.

"Uh... mind if I shake?" She said as she prepared to do just that. Stripe, by the way, had moved a fair distance away from Cheetah, the moment she mentioned her time limit being up.

"YES I MIND!" Said an indignant Penny.

"Too bad. Need to anyway. Reflex and all that." Cheetah said.

"Don't you- eek!"

Meanwhile, over with the _mature_ survivors.

"That creature will most certainly rip Atlantis apart." Tanis said as he stood next to Tyr. "We will need to figure out how to defeat it quickly!"

"But what about Chris and Gina!?" Mesha exclaimed. "We need to help them,and we could use their help as well."

"Indeed., but where are they?" Tyr asked.

"I was hoping your pool could tell us." Mesha said as she gestured towards said pool. "When that trap on the vault activated the explosion, I quickly cast a teleportation spell to get both of them out of there. But the magic in the explosion, interfered with the magic of my spell. It's only thanks to Chris running forward and flaring his chi, that I was able to lock onto them with the spell at all. Unfortunately, it also changed the location of the spells destination."

Sensing his wife's distress, Tark held her tightly as he reassured her that they were fine.

"Don't worry my one. I'm sure they are safe. Not only is Christopher hard to kill. But Gina is an extremely resourceful girl. I'm certain that wherever they are they will be fine."

"I pray they are safe Tark. I couldn't even consider forgiving myself if anything happened to them. Especially since it would be all my fault!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Himalayan Mountains.

"W-w-w-w-what-t I-I-I w-wouldn't g-g-give f-f-for a h-hot cup o-of t-t-t-tea r-right n-n-now!" Chris stuttered out as he limped along the icy mountain side carrying Gina, with half of his fur burned off, charred skin showing signs of healing, though it was slower than normal since the burns were magical. _'God this sucks, what the hell happened when that door opened. Seriously. I should be dead right now. Not freezing my ass off on a snowy mountain!'_

"C-c-chris I-I-I'm-m c-cold-d" Gina stuttered as she lay in Chris' arms. She was in much better condition, with absolutely no wounds, as Chris had covered her and protected her from the blast. "I t-th-think-k... I'll... t-take... a... n-nap..."

"What! NO!" Chris said in a panic. "Do not fall asleep Gina! Gina! Can you hear me Gina! Do not fall asleep Gina!..."

"Gina!?..."

"GINA!"

* * *

**AN:** So... Yeah. Like I've said before, this story won't really deviate from the original storyline too much. But after the next two chapters it will hopefully become more personal in style, rather than an oc in a novelization of the comics. If you like it please review. If not, then fine, but don't flame my writing please.


	4. CH 4: Mountaintop Library

Cheetahs Aren't The Only Endangered Species

Chapter Four: THE MOUNTAINTOP LIBRARY! First El Dorado, then Atlantis, and now THIS!?

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the OC's

**AN:** Here's Chapter four. Also, as some of you may have noticed, even though Chris is technically my main character, I also focus a lot on the other characters as well. Later on, either in this story or another one, my writing will focus more on one character, with references to other characters being slightly less frequent. However, in the original series, the focus on characters jumps back and forth so the you can always know what's going on with everyone. I like this style of storytelling, and as probably won't change it too much. It keeps things interesting, since it skips over the scenes where nothing is happening, and focuses on everything you need to know.

"Hello" speech.

'_What the...' thoughts/flashbacks/Other_

...

Normal POV

In the last chapter, Gryphon released a terrible monster called Armageddon in order to destroy all his enemies and take over the world. Unfortunately, when the monster was released Gina and Chris were teleported to places unknown when Mesha attempted to save them. As of now, the group still at Atlantis are now attempting to find a way to destroy Armageddon, and find their friends.

As the group stands around the Pool of Legends, Tyr opens a gate to a place within Armageddon, in order to destroy it from the inside out. As it was the only way that they would be able to finish it off, since the outside was both in the water, and impenetrable.

"There, I've opened a gate to the inside of Armageddon, after you go through you'll have to make your way to its energy source, and destroy it." Tyr said as she focused on holding the gateway open. "Tanis, Garen, good luck!"

"Now hold on here. You gotta be crazy if you think I'm not comin' too!" Said Ace as he adjusted his goggles before entering the pool.

"I shall come as well Ace!" Stripe said, before he looked back at Cheetah. "Aren't you coming also, Cheetah?"

Cheetah shook her head. "Sorry muffin! Your favorite seven-foot were-cheetah's gonna have to take a rain check. Me and the elves gotta look for Gina!"

"I see. Then until we return, Cheetah." Said Stripe as he went into the pool.

Penny then spoke up. "I guess I'll go too! Afterall, all brawn and no brains, certainly won't get the job done!"

"Stuff it Penny. You just want to save the world like the rest of the superheroes!" Cheetah called out as the group going into Armageddon disappeared under the surface of the pool. "How about you Tyr. Don't you want to help?"

"I do Cheetah, but if the portal closes _I_ am the one that needs to make a new one." Tyr explained. "And I can't make one unless I am here."

"I see... well then how about you help us find Chris and my sister. That pool can find them no problem, right?" Said Cheetah, as she looked at Tyr expectantly.

"Unfortunately, I'm not certain Cheetah." Tyr responded meekly. "I need to know exactly what happened to them, if we want to have any hope of finding them... Mesha?"

All eyes turned to Mesha at that point.

"Well... when Gina was about to get caught in the explosion Chris jumped on her in order to protect her from the blast, this allowed me to 'lock on' to his aura with a teleportation spell to get them out of there. It also made the spell a bit stronger than it should have been." Mesha explained, as she was looking down at her feet, feeling small. "Unfortunately, due to the explosion disrupting the magic of the spell, the destination could anywhere in the world. They are alive... but I have no idea where they are."

...

Meanwhile, at the location of Gina and Chris.

'_Cold! I... I remember the cold... freezing... painful, icy, deadly cold... what happened... it's soft... comfy, warm, nice... wait... where am I!?"_ Gina's previously sleepy thought process jumps into overdrive as she remembers what happened._ 'Oh my god. It's dark. I can barely see. Wait!... I'm not cold... but aren't I on a mountain. Chris was... CHRIS! Where, WAIT! Why am I naked.'_

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"

'_Holy shit! someone's hugging me! and... and... HE'S NAKED TOO!'_ -EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK- Gina screamed as she looked over her shoulder to see a naked bald man, with a tattoo over his left eye, and pushed him away as hard as she could before grabbing the blanket that had previously covered the both of them as they slept. The man, who was now awake, sat back, looking confused, as he watched Gina scramble away.

"You fiend! How dare you take advantage of me!" Gina yelled at the man she had previously been sleeping with. "You could have at least waited for me to wake up, and then asked me before you did anything!"

The man, hearing her accusations, looked highly insulted.

"Are you insinuating that I... wait, you speak Nathish!" Said the man.

"Huh!?" Came Gina's intelligent reply.

"The ancient language of the codex. You speak it!" He said.

"Waht! No! I speak english! Wait, nevermind that! Explain yourself mister!" Gina demanded. "Why the heck were we both under that thing naked! And where's Chris. If you did anything to him I swear I'll..."

The man looks at her amused.

"I found both you and your companion in the snow alongside the mountain. The two of you were in shock, but while the man that was with you had more injuries than you, _you_ were the one that was nearly dead. I had to find a way to warm you up from the cold. I had several people who work for me bring your friend to my home, since he would be able to make it there. But I had to take more drastic measures to save you. So I brought you to this cave to warm up, since it was closer by." The man explained to Gina, though it didn't look like she believed him that much.

"Yeah right! you probably just wanted me for yourself, while you gave Chris to someone else for them to lock him up!" She said indignantly.

"I speak the truth miss. I had to remove our clothes since they were wet due to the snow. Wet clothes equal cold clothes, and the reason we were both under my cloak was because it wasn't warm enough to heat you up fast enough. I was using my body heat to... um... what are you staring at?" He asked as he tried to explain what he had done, and why. Only to see that Gina was staring at... a certain appendage.

"Huh? OH! I'm sorry... do you think you could cover up, perhaps." Gina asked embarrassedly. Trying her best to not stare.

"Why? Is something wrong." The man questioned. Clearly oblivious to what might be the problem.

"No! uh... nevermind..." Gina said, in an effort to cover up her embarrassment.

"Then I shall continue to explain." He said. "As I was saying. The reason we were both under my cloak, was because the fastest way for me to warm you up, and save you, was to share my body heat with you, since my cloak wasn't warm enough."

"I see... so you really were trying to... I apologize for my previous assumptions. I'm Gina Diggers, archeologist and scientist extraordinaire." Gina said as she held out her hand in greeting.

"I am Kahn. The sage of the Library of Time. My cities greatest treasure." Kahn said as he introduced himself, and shook Gina's hand.

It was at this point that Gina's boy craziness decided to kick in.

"You know Kahn. You're very humble, regarding the fact that you saved my life." She said as she began to crawl towards him. "And you know... we are in a nice, cozy, and private area right now. Do you think we could... get to know each other a bit better? If you don't mind me being friendly that is." (And they say guys are the ones that want sex. AN: Please note that Gina is fully in character, and I did not make her a genius bimbo. Just saying.)

Kahn just smiled, but not eagerly. It was more like a smile you get when you see something entertaining, and you can't help but be amused.

"You don't waste any time, do you?" He said as he leaned into her.

"That a yes or no?"

"Oh why not. You _are_ beautiful, and being a scientist only makes you more appealing."

"You got a thing for smart gals, huh? God for me then." She said as they slowly embraced. "Hope you don't tire to easily big guy!"

"A sense of humor as well! Beauty, wit, and intelligence. You are truly a valuable gem, Gina!" Said Kahn as he slowly lowered himself onto of Gina, going for a kiss...

"OH JEEZUS CHRIST-Y! I DID NOT NEED TO SEE THIS! GOD!"

... Only for the moment to be ruined as Chris walked through the entrance of the cave, looking for Gina and Kahn. Since he had fully healed by this point, he wanted to make sure they were okay, and thank Kahn for his help, along with bring Gina some better clothes to walk back to the city in.

"CHRIS! Oh my god! What are you doing here!?" Gina screamed, in both frustration and embarrassment, as she covered herself more with Kahn's cloak. Kahn just sat back calmly.

"I'm looking for you of course. Kahn may be a nice guy, with him saving us and everything. But I'm supposed to be keeping you safe, and checking up on you is apart of that!" Chris replied as he tried to look anywhere but at Gina, He was in no way a pervert after all. "Besides, if you want to get your freak on with the the librarian over there that's fine. But the least you could do is wait until you get to somewhere more comfortable... and private."

"You know Gina, I have to agree with Chris here." Kahn suddenly spoke up. "As much as I wish to enjoy my time with you, doing so in a private environment in which we can't be disturbed would most definitely be preferable."

Gina grumbled a bit, unhappy that both her friend, and hopeful key to no longer being a virgin, were teaming up on her. Especially since it was Chris who was interrupting. Regardless, with Kahn getting dressed, and Chris waiting near the entrance to the cave, she stood up, got dressed, and wrapped herself up in a few of the clothes that Chris had brought with him.

"Come on people, let's get going already." Chris said impatiently.

"Cool your jets spotty. Not all of us have fur coats that allow us to walk around half naked on a mountaintop!" Gina said, angrily.

"Hey, you're the ones who're wearing that nifty insulating gel. Neither of you should be feeling the cold right now." Chris replied. "By the smell you both have, you should both have enough for at least a day."

"That is true Chris, I covered both myself and Gina with enough gel for a full twenty-four hours. Enough to feel like it's a warm spring day." Kahn said.

"So _that's_ why I'm not feeling cold right now." Said Gina in surprise. "I was just about to ask you about that."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's get moving already. The cold's starting to get through my fur!" Said Chris as he began to shiver slightly. Gina and Kahn, who were now fully dressed, followed him to the entrance of the cave.

"By the way Kahn, where is it that you live exactly?" Gina asked curiously.

"Why, Shangri-la of course!"

...

Meanwhile, the group inside Armageddon.

"Be careful everyone! We're under attack!" Stripe yelled out to his friends.

"No really! Geez man, ya think. This place is crawlin with beasties." Ace said said as he dodged a swipe from one of the several hundred metallic colored monsters, with glowing marks on their heads, that were currently trying to make their way through the strange luminescent slime covered tunnels that he, and the rest of the group trying to take out Gryphon had found themselves in. "Seriously! How the heck could an army of freaky- LOOK OUT, TANIS!"

"AARRGH" Tanis screamed in pain as he was knocked backwards by one of the monsters.

"Tanis!" Stripe and Garen rushed towards their fallen comrade, and pushed back the monster he had been fighting.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Penny said angrily, as she attempted to hide behind her friends as they fought. "These things are almost endless, and they're clearly meant to protect Armageddon from internal intruders like us. We need to find a way around them. Not through them!"

"Then that is your job Penny. You find the way, while the rest of us, -grunt-, keep these creatures distracted" Stripe said as he choke slammed one of the creatures that had gotten a bit too close, before immediately performing a spin kick aimed at a creature that had come from behind.

""Strike three! You're out!" Screamed Ace as he threw one of the creatures over his shoulder and into two more oncoming enemies. "Yeah baby! That's how it's done!"

"You know, acting like a cheerleader really isn't helping the situation right now Ace." Penny deadpanned from her position behind one of the creatures, as she grabbed its legs. " Now some hit this guy before -SMACK-... thank you Tanis."

Tanis, who had just finished recovering from his previous hit, landed a flying kick to the creatures face, toppling it over as Penny once again ran to relative safety.

"You know, it's a good thing that these things are incredibly weak, else we might be having more problems." Tanis said as he went to strike at another enemy. "I mean really, these things have absolutely no skills, other than running, punching, and slashing. They aren't even really that reinforced, they just have a large amount of reinforcements, but even that doesn't matter, since there's not enough room for them to truly swarm us."

"That doesn't make this easy Tanis. Eventually we will tire, whilst they shall continue to come." Garen pointed out, as he elbow slammed the back of one of the creatures Ace had tripped.

POW "ARRGH" Came Stripes yell from behind. "Lucky shot!"

"Case in point! We need to end this quickly, before we _all_ get hit by a _lucky shot_!" Garen yelled as he went to help Stripe with the creature that had hit him. "Are you alright Stripe!?" He yelled out.

Stripe grunted in pain before answering "I will be after some rest, but we must first finish off these creatures." He said in slight pain.

"Aw, what's the rush guys? This ain't too hard." Came Ace's cocky reply to their worrying. "This is actually some good exercise, if you ask- WHOA! Where'd _you_ come from!?"

As he said this, one of the creatures jumped out of the water, and came flying directly at him, clearly intent on cutting him into bits.

"Sorry Ace!" Penny screamed from near the wall. "That one got away from me!"

"Heh, probably heard how bossy you were and couldn't get away fast enough." He said jokingly, as he dodged out of the way. Only for it to turn around and prepare to make another leap.

"Just for that, you can take care of it yourself!" Penny screamed in anger. Even if it _was_ just a joke.

As soon as she said that the creature leaped, but before it could reach Ace it was grabbed in mid air, as Garen, who had finished off several of the creatures he had been fighting, got between it and Ace.

"Sorry Ace, I need to borrow this one!" He said as he began swinging the creature like a bat towards more of the oncoming enemies

"No problem man!" Ace said as he gave a relieved sigh.

While this was happening, Penny, who had gotten a break from the rush of creatures, began to search the surroundings, that weren't over run by monster, in order to find something that might be useful.

'_Come on, come on! There has got to be a way to shut these things down.'_ Penny thought as she began to feel around the walls trying to look for a panel or something, that would get them out of there if they couldn't shut down the creatures. _' These things are endless, if we don't find a way to- wait a second!'_ Her thoughts cut off as she came to a realization as she looked at the walls. _'These walls appear to be the same material as the creatures. I that likely means that they aren't really creatures, but robots, and the walls are the wood works they come out of... Wait! what's this?... Some sort of cable integrated into the wall.'_ As she felt around the wall some more, she realized that the strange cable she was feeling was pulsing, at the same rate that the glowing marks on the monsters was.

"HEY TANIS!" She called out. "Bring those razor blades of yours over here, will ya!"

Tanis glanced at Penny before looking back towards their friends. Deciding that he could risk a few moments, he rushed over to where Penny stood.

"What is it Penny? Our friends need my help!" He asked when he had gotten closer.

"This'll be quick, I promise. Now just use your razors to cut this cable on the wall. Something good _should_ happen!" She explained.

"Very well, but please do not call my cortal fins razors!"

"Well they're sharp aren't they."

"They're supposed to be attractive. Mine are only sharp because I'm a guard!"

As Tanis voiced his complaint about Penny's choice of words, he slashed his arm straight through the cable Penny had indicated. After doing so, the creatures surrounding the group all collapsed onto the floor in a dead heap.

"Jackpot!" Screamed Penny.

"The creatures... how... they're dropping like flies!" Stripe said in amazement.

"Don't ask Stripe. Don't ask!" Ace said as he made his way over to where everyone else was standing. "She's just waitin' to tell us what she did, and I don't want to hear it."

"I believe we don't have a choice in the matter." Tanis said sullenly. "She seems like she's going to tell us anyway."

"Ya damn right I am!" Penny said, excitedly. "Ya see, Armageddon is a construct, a robot. As such it should only have one brain, thus the little guys are linked to that brain. Rather than having their own brains. This means that if we cut the thing that's sending the signal then the little guys all shut down." She paused here for effect. "As such, when I got Tanis to cut the cable in the wall it disrupted the signal, and thus, dead robots. Like I've said before, brains beat brawn, every time."

The rest of the group just looked a Penny, who had a proud smile on her face, before Ace voiced his opinion.

"You know, Ya still couldn't have done this without the brawn here to help you out. So there."

Penny stopped smiling.

...

Back with Mesha and Cheetahs group. (An: This section is from the comic, and isn't too important. But it gives backstory to some of the characters. So you still might want to pay attention.)

"Hey Mesha, what gives? You not thinking of giving up are you?!" Cheetah asked.

"No, friend Cheetah. I wouldn't even consider giving up, and we are still looking for Gina and Chris as best we can with the Pool of Legends, but it takes energy; energy that I have been using all day to cast spells." Said Mesha as she explained why she was sitting on the side instead of looking for their friends. "I want to keep looking; I really do, but I'm simply too exhausted."

"Oh, well that's okay I guess. Bench-warmers like me need company sometimes too." Cheetah said as she sat with Mesha. "Though I'm still worried about them. Even if I know full well that they can both take care of themselves. I just hope that nothing too strange is going on with them."

The two friends sat in silence for a bit as they watched Tyr and Tark take a shot at finding Gina and Chris. After a short time however, Mesha decided that this would be a good time to get to know her friend a bit better.

"So Cheetah." She said to get Cheetahs attention.

"Yes?" Cheetah responded.

"I've often wondered, but never really thought to ask, is Cheetah your real name?" Mesha asked with curiosity.

"Ah yes, I've never told you or Tark my real name before, have I" Cheetah said with a hint of embarrassment. "Cheetah's just a nickname I got in middle school. My real names Brittany. But when I hit puberty and gained the ability to shift at will, not as well as Chris unfortunately, I spent most of my time in hybrid form. The strength and speed I gained allowed me to play superhero. I was known as 'The Cheetah'!"

"Really! I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, what with you being a bodyguard for your sister and all." Mesha said with a hint of ' ah hah'.

"Yeah... Me and a friend went around the school taking on everybody that could be classified as a bully. We even tried to get Gina to join in... but she was always reading books, and didn't really want to help us out much." Cheetah said with excitement.

"I see. So you and your friend eventually grew out of the whole superhero phase, huh" Mesha stated.

"Yeah, but the name stuck, and I've always enjoyed it anyway." Said a happy Cheetah.

They sat in silence for a few more seconds before Cheetah came to a startling realization.

"You know... now that I think about it... I've never told Stripe my real name either!" Said Cheetah, startled at her own forgetfulness. "Ah well, I'll just let him guess a few time when we see him again. Though he must think I'm a weirdo. Oh well."

"You know.. I really enjoy watching your courtship with Stripe. It reminds me of Myself and Tark. Though that was eons ago." Mesha said with amusement entering her voice.

"Hmm. You and Tark have been together for a very long time, haven't you." Cheetah said. "The thick and thin you two must have been through must be a lot. What's your secret."

Mesha grinned before replying.

"Respect, empathy, compassion, communication, and a healthy amount of perpetual lust for each other! -hehehe-" Mesha finished her statement off with a giggle, and Cheetah couldn't blame her.

"Mesha!" Came Princess Tyrs call from the pool. "I'll need you to take over for me soon. I'm running out of energy. This search for Gina and Chris is extremely tiring."

"Very well, Princess Tyr. I will be ready to take over when you are ready to pass the task on to me." Mesha called back.

"Hey Mesha." Cheetah said suddenly. "If you've been with Tark for so long, why don't you have any kids?"

"Well that's because we grey elves don't become fertile until we enter what would be roughly middle age for us. It's an elf thing, don't put too much thought into it."

"Oh, Okay."

...

Returning to Gina and Chris. Just outside Shangri-La.

Gina, Chris, and Kahn, were all walking up a steep staircase that led to the great city of Shangri-La. As they reached the top of the hill, they came to a stop and stood there, enjoying the few of the huge city built into the mountain.

"So this is your place, eh Kahn!" Gina said, impressed at the sheer size of the hidden city, and seeing as how it was too tall to measure with just you eyes, it was pretty damn big. "Will there be any problems getting in? Cause I don't really have any Id on me right now..."

Kahn just laughed a little at her, while Chris gave her a look that said 'are you serious'. Gina ignored him.

"No Gina. There will be no problems getting in. For those that can find this place, which as you can see that number is actually quite large, all are welcome, regardless of who they are. It is only after you enter, that you may lose the right to stay or enter again." Kahn explained as Gina took a look at the people entering and exiting, to see if there really were a lot of people that knew about this place.

Kahn's statement about a large number of people knowing about this place were most certainly true. Seeing as how there were several hundred, if not thousand, people coming and going, as if it really was just a library. All in all, in a global sense, there weren't many that knew about this place. But in a slightly smaller scale, it was enough people that Gina wondered why no one knew made it public already. She made the assumption that there were magics that protected it from being truly abused by the world as a whole. But then again it could really just be really well hidden from the outside. Much like El Dorado, and Atlantis. Both of which had nothing but the elements to hide them.

Chris had already been in and out once before, so he had already gotten his nerdgasm, at seeing such a spectacular sight and marvel, done with, and got it out of the way.

"You know... This place reminds me more of a science fiction movie than a city!" Gina said. "Why is that, this place must be ancient afterall."

"Well it is a little sci-fi like, I guess. But that comes from it having been built around the library of time." Kahn explained. "The library of time has a copy of every book, or written work, that exists or ever will exist. The library itself rest on the gateway of eternity, and Shangri-La benifits from having access to the library, allowing it to have a more futuristic appearance. The city can gain even more than that, though only if the librarian can find the knowledge in the ever-changing maze that it is. I just so happen to be that librarian!"

"Jinkies, Kahn. You're certainly my kind of dude. I love libraries. When does it open."

At this point in time the group had reached the entrance of the library.

"It's always open, right Kahn?" Chris spoke up, having gotten tired of being ignored. "Except the back area, cause there's all kinds of nasty safeguards."

Glancing back at Chris, Gina looked at him with a curious eye, while Kahn just looked surprised that he would have that knowledge, without having been told.

"That is indeed correct Christopher! How did you know that." Kahn asked curiously.

Gina was also curious as to how he knew this.

"Meh, when I woke up I tried to explore this place a bit before coming to find you guys, but there were a few places I wandered to that were being guarded by something or other. So when I was almost swept up into that tornado dude, I figured that some places must be off limits." Chris explained. "Next, I just asked another one of the people in here when the opening hours are. They just looked at me confused, before they explained that the library never closes."

Kahn got a worried look on his face when he heard about the tornado guardian, but since Chris was okay he figured that there wasn't anything to worry about. Gina on the other hand, was a bit upset that he was more curious about finding out the places in the library than finding her, even if he did interrupt her possible nookie time with Kahn.

"Well I do hope you won't go anywhere near those area with guardians again. Those areas are beyond the forward section, and the dangers in there are well beyond anything that exists anywhere else, that I know of." Kahn told both Chris and Gina. "However everything in the front section is open for you to read. It is all information I have deemed safe for public knowledge. Ah, here we are."

Since they had not stopped walking during their conversation, they had wandered into the library and towards what appeared to be a front desk of sorts. Only it looked like a large, golden, crescent moon statue that seemed to have a glowing portal suspended within it.

"Hey Kahn? What's this thing?" Gina asked, once she had seen that Kahn had stopped moving.

"This is our Codex Gina. It's one of four found within the library. This one in particular hold the books on science." Kahn explained. "This is where you can go to find the books you need, if you are looking for something specific. Otherwise looking through the aisles also works."

Gina wasn't all that impressed...Yet.

"Oh!? And how does it work, exactly?" Gina asked with a hint of disbelief. "And who put it here anyway."

-beep beep-

"That information is only accessible by the ones who made this unit." Gina and Chris looked around in surprise, before looking towards the codex.

"It talks!?" Exclaimed both Gina and Chris.

"Indeed Chris, Gina." The codex said.

-whistle noise- "That's impressive. Never thought I'd see a machine-" Chris was cut off.

"That could read minds!" Interrupted the codex.

"...Or one that liked to interrupt people."

"Regardless. What literary subjects would you like to read?" Asked the codex.

Gina stood in thought for a moment before speaking. "Okay I've got it. I want-"

"Receiving books now." Said the codex.

"What!? But I haven't..." Gina trailed off in her complaints, as the books she had wanted were all slowly coming out of the conveyer belt from beneath the codex.

SQUUEEEEEEE! "It's not even my birthday! Oh my gosh this is so awesome!" Gina was literally drooling over the knowledge she would find in these books. The books in question, being of obscure topics, such as **'Six Easy Steps to Immortality', 'Creating Your Own Lifeforms', 'The Answer to the Secrets of Life', 'Time and Space (Made Easy)', 'The UNcensored Karma Sutra', and 'The Untold Secrets of the Universe TOLD'**. Five science texts, and a naughty book. That is so like her.

"Hey Chris, aren't you going to get anything!?" Gina suddenly asked Chris, seeing that he wasn't trying to get any books.

"Oh don't worry about me Gina. I'll be getting some books,you can count on that! I just need to go to another section to find the books that I want, that's all." Chris said to Gina, before turning to Kahn. "So Kahn, Where would I find books on advanced martial arts, and magic use, specifically ki manipulation."

Kahn thought for a moment before answering. -hmmm- "I believe they would be over in that section over there. In the historical, and mystical sections, respectively." Kahn answered, as he pointed to the left of where they were facing the codex, and several aisles down. "It's quite a bit of a walk, but I'm sure you can find what you are looking for. Unfortunately the subjects you are looking for are not tuned to any particular codex... so..."

"So I'll have to look for them. That's fine, I enjoy browsing. Though I'm have to ask. Why is the 'Karma Sutra' in-"

"HEY!" Gina's sudden cry interrupted Chris and Kahn. "What's the big idea Kahn. Why'd an evil guy like Gryphon get access to a book like this." She stormed over to Kahn and Chris, holding a checkout card in her clenched hand. "Huh! Explain buster. Why'd an evil wizard like Gryphon get permission to get his fin on a book like this. 'Horrible Forces of the Universe (and how to use them)' is just the book he needed to take over Atlantis, and make his giant WMD." Chris was also surprised, but he was willing to wait for an answer, unlike Gina who was getting in Kahn's face.

Kahn looked away from Gina and Chris' piercing stares before manning up and facing them. "I can't tell a good borrower from a bad one Gina, Chris. I truly didn't know that Gryphon was evil until he returned that book!" Kahn said as he explained what had happened. "You see... about four years ago, Gryphon tried to take over the library. At the time I was working on translating a new book from the library when it all started."

Narrative _Flashback! (Kahn's narrative parts are in normal font.)_

The Maid-Empress Lynn was watching me work, as she often does, showing quite clearly that she simply loved literature.

_As Kahn sat as his desk working, Empress Lynn stared lovingly at his focused gazed, not even paying the slightest attention to the books laid out along the desk. Gryphon was walking up to the desk in the background._

"_Is something on your mind, Empress Lynn?" Kahn asked as he looked up from his work._

_The Empress just stuttered in response, not actually answering his question._

"_Let me guess, you want me to teach you the language of the codex, don't you. It would be no problem you know, we can start right now if you wish." Kahn said excitedly as he prepared some material to teach with._

"_Oh...yes...that'd be great..." The Empress trailed off disappointedly at Kahns obliviousness._

_As the Empress sat patiently while watching Kahn, Gryphon had reached the desk, and placed the book he had with him on the table. Hello there. I am here to return the book I borrowed not long ago from your library."_

"_Looking up towards Gryphon, Kahn was confused as to why he had come to his desk. "That's nice of you, but the codex can handle book returns just fine. Is there a problem of some sort?"_

_Gryphon chuckled darkly before giving his reply. "Yes there is, and it's yours! I'm banishing you to oblivion and taking over. This library will now be mine!" _

Gryphon was unaware at the time, that the wards around the library prevent me from receiving harm. Unfortunately... so did Empress Lynn. As such, she attacked Gryphon without any regard for her safety. She was skilled in unarmed combat, but she was still just a novice.

"_NO" Lynn cried as she struck Gryphon with her fist._

"_Foolish girl! I'll banish you first then. Followed by that worthless sage." Gryphon yelled as he cast a spell to banish Lynn to the depths of oblivion._

I was too late to save Lynn. Gryphon had cast his spell too fast for me to respond in time. All I could do was activate a lightgate to open a portal that would banish him from the library. But Empress Lynn was lost...forever.

Flashback over!

Gina and Chris were listening to Kahn's story intensely as they continued to copy the books Gina had gotten.

"That's too bad about Lynn." Gina said comfortingly to Kahn.

"Indeed." Chris agreed. "Hey wait! That lightgate you mentioned. Can you decide where the destination is. Cause we kinda have to return to our friends pretty soon. We don't want them thinking we're dead after all!"

"I could, yes and if you have to leave I understand. Though I do wish that I could finish that... discussion I was having earlier with Gina in the cave. Perhaps we could finish it in my private quarters?"

Gina looked up quickly from her book with a silly grin on her face. Chris on the other had, facepalmed and sighed before wandering off in the direction that Kahn had said the martial arts and ki books were in.

"TMI Kahn, TMI. And regardless of what you call it sex is sex, discussing ain't usually involved."

"Oh go read your fight books you big hairball." Gina said as she and Kahn began walking towards his quarters.

Chris ignored the insult as he kept walking to the section he was looking for.

Arriving at the the section titled 'Wars of Ancient Times' He turned down the aisle and began to look for books that might be interesting. Glancing from title to title on the shelves, he noticed that several of the books covered times that he knew came far before the modern historic era. The books covered wars from an age known as the age of magic. Noting where these books were, he moved on to another aisle, this one labeled 'The Ancient Arts of War' through 'Modern Arts of War'. Walking down this aisle, he noticed that all the shelves had some sort of 'how to' martial arts style written in them. Grabbing a handful of books that sounded useful, **'Anything Goes by Ranma Saotome', 'Ki Manipulation for the Chinese Amazon by Ku Logne', "What You Can Do With Chi', 'What Element are YOU!', 'Shun-Leep's Predicting your Opponent', 'Hidden Weapons for the Aspiring Ninja/Fighter by Mu Tsu', 'Ninjutsu for Beginners' by Sarutobi Hiruzen, 'Making a Martial Art by Various Authors', and 'Six-Hundred and Sixty-Six ways to fight like a beast'**. Those last two books were ones that he really wanted to read, since he had always felt that most martial arts were too rigid in their ways, and that he would be much better suited to making his own, more wild way of fighting. Afterall, just because he was cultured, and held a degree in literature, didn't mean that there couldn't be a beast just waiting to get out. Though he was disappointed that he couldn't find any books on being a war mage. But he figured that he could just ask Kahn where those books might be later on. It's not like he couldn't come back later after all.

Walking over to one of the many photocopiers located around the library, he put each book into the machine to make a copy of the books for his own library. They wouldn't be as fancy as the original, but he really wanted to have his own copies of the books he had grabbed. That and he knew that if he didn't make copies, he would likely forget to return the original. Though he would be taking the original too. A test for himself, to see if he _could _remember.

But as he waited for the machine to copy his books, he couldn't help but wonder how his other friends were doing. _'I hope they're alright. I would hate for them to be in trouble when I could be helping. Though they are all very dependable, so I guess I really shouldn't worry.'_

...

In the depths of Armageddon, with Penny, Stripe, Tanis, Garen, and Ace.

The group had just found the tunnel, inside Armageddon, leading to the artifacts that powered it. It was here that they had decided to take a break so that they could figure out how to get down to the artifacts without falling to their deaths.

"So that's Armageddons power source, eh? Certainly a long way down, ain't it!" Penny said as she peered over the edge. "Certainly don't want to fall down here, now do we."

"No, we do not, so perhaps you should come away from the edge before that happens." Said Stripe as he sat back with the others, away from the edge.

"Alright, alright, no need to get your fur all ruffled, I didn't come here just to get scolded." Penny grumbled as she walked back to the group.

"You know, now that you've mentioned it, why **did** you come along Penny? According to Gina, and Cheetah, you're Gina's arch-rival. I fail to see why you would want to help her." Stripe said,questioningly.

"Arch-rivals, HA! Is that all she said." Ace said with a laugh as he heard Stripes question. "Those two are just short of being archenemies, Stripe. Every time they meet, they're on each other like cats and dogs. Always trying to screw the other one over, and come away with the most loot. F'instance... The Temple of Fear, in Ankara, where Penny got stranded on a ledge surrounded by shark infested water, and Gina would only throw her the shark repellent if Penny threw her the idol they were lookin' for."

As Ace kept speaking, Penny began grinding her teeth in frustration.

"Then another time, only it was Penny who would only give Gina the key to the cell she got stuck in if she gave her the location of a tomb, and the time Gina slowly cut Penny loose from a trap, but only if Penny gave her the code to enter the crypt, and when Penny poured a big gulp down Gina's shirt when she got tied up once, and then in the Dread Caves of-"

Finally, Penny had enough. "ACE! Shut Up! You're embarrassing me!" Penny screamed in frustration and embarrassment.

"It's still all true Penny."

After hearing about the relationship between Penny and Gina, Stripe was fairly confused. "If your relationship with Gina is so horrible... I can't understand why she would have invited you on her expedition." He said.

"Yeah, well, she knew I would try to find a way here anyway, and by having us all in a group she not only gets to keep an eye on me herself, but she can get one of you guys to watch me if she can't. Myself on the other hand, well, let's just say that if I was here by myself I would be the only target if I was attacked. Safety in numbers and all." Penny told Stripe, explaining her reasoning for being invited. "Gina and I are both too smart to let our rivalry over come our needs to win."

Suddenly Tanis called out to everyone. "Hey guys, something strange is happening to the power source, It's starting to glow, and it feels like it's heating up as well! Almost like a blast furnace!"

Looking over the edge, they could all see that Armageddons power source had indeed begun to power up.

"Well... least we can see everything that's happening due to the light coming from the power source, the walls, and everything else, all seem to be made of gold from El Dorado." Penny said in a matter-of-fact tone. _'When I finally get to take this baby home, I'm gonna be rich...(-er)'_ She thought after a few seconds.

Ace, having noticed a familiar look in Penny's eye, called out to her. "Stop thinking about money, Penny, and start thinking about what we should do next. Armageddon's waking up, and I don't think it'll be much fun to be in here much longer!"

Penny just glared at him.

"What do you make of this Stripe? It's power does come from your city after all." Garen asked, with worry entering his voice.

Stripe had a look of fear on his face as he answered. "Unfortunately it is about to move, and in the process it is likely going to go and destroy the rest of Atlantis; much like it did the citadel. After that, it will no longer need my people artifacts to power it, and it will become truly unstoppable!"

After hearing it told to them, they all got looks of panic on their faces. "Well then I guess we'd best get down there and-"

CREEEEEEEEEEEK

Tanis was cut off as the area they were all standing on suddenly tilted to the side. "OOF- Everyone, hold on to something! If it shift the other way you'll go splat right in the blast furnace." Ace yelled as he held tight to one of the crevices in the wall.

As everyone held on to something Tanis decided it was time to leave. "This is getting too dangerous! I'm calling the Princess!"

"Wait, you brought a communicator!" Penny asked.

"Not exactly..."

...

In the cavern holding the Pool of Legends Princess Tyr gets Tanis' message.

-GASP- "A sonar message! Tanis and the others are in trouble, we need to get them back here." Tyr called out in a panic as she rushed over to the pool from where she was resting.

"Everyone look, I've found Gina and Chris!" Mesha yelled happily as she looked into the pool. Cheetah and Tark rushing over to see. "Just give me a moment to clear the image... voila!"

As Cheetah, Tark, Mesha, and Princess Tyr looked into the image presented by the pool their faces all turned redder than a fire hydrant. This was because Gina was currently attempting to start a fairly... private activity with a certain librarian. Luckily they had not found her any later, else they might have interrupted during the actual act, rather than the heavy and still mostly clothed seduction that was currently happening.

"Oh my..." Mesha trailed off as she looked on. "Look at where her hands are... oh my."

"Right. Well she's okay... how about Chris. Since they clearly aren't together." Cheetah said, as she tried not to feel jealous that her sister was getting more than she was. "Hopefully he's not doing something quite as... private as my sister is."

"Right. Here he is." Tark said as he waved his hands and changed the image to show Chris. "Luckily they are not far away from each other, within walking distance, though still far enough away to be private. At least he seems to be doing something useful however."

And indeed, Chris was doing something _very_ useful, in that he was going over some of the books that Gina had gotten before. Since he had already finished skim reading over the books that he wanted, he figured that he could make an attempt to look up what they would need to defeat Gryphon and his giant WMD. What made this interesting however, was the fact that he was reading this book, while it floated in front of him, and he fought a copy of himself, while balancing what looked to be a metal ball on his head.

"Right. They both seem to be okay for the moment. Let's get Tanis and everyone else out of Armageddon. We can get these two later." Cheetah said as Tyr took control of the pool.

"Did Tanis' sonar message tell you where to get them?" Tark asked.

"It did, but it was cut off part way through. I fear that means that we were too late." Tyr said in worry. "I'm also going to send out a message to the rest of the city to evacuate the upper areas. I pray that Armageddon can't reach the lower areas."

"But what about Stripe and the others?" Cheetah asked.

"The portal has been opened, but no one has come through yet!" Tark said as he watched the pool with Mesha.

"Wait! Look, someone's coming through." Mesha yelled.

As the figure slowly reached the surface of the pool, they realized that it was Stripe with Tanis on his shoulder. "Quickly, get them out of there" Cheetah cried out. "What happened, are you hurt muffin!?"

A bit disgruntled at the pet name, Stripe called back. "We're fine, but please give me some help. Tanis was knocked unconscious."

Bending over to help, Cheetah pulled Tanis out of the pool. "How hurt is he muffin?"

"You just won't quit with that, will you." Stripe muttered quietly. "He'll be okay. Nothing damaged; just banged up."

As Stripe climbed out of the pool, Penny, Ace, and Garen, all came through the portal before it was closed by Tark and Mesha. Though unlike Stripe, they were all screaming at each other about how useless it was to even _try _to stop Armageddon. With Penny and Ace being the loudest, and Garen just questioning why upper-worlders fought so much.

"Well it's nice to know that you are all alright."Tyr said as she began checking over Tanis. "Now, why don't we go get Gina and Chris, Preferably Chris, since I don't think we want to be interrupting Gina at this time."

...

Unfortunately for Gina, an interruption was exactly what she needed, as she was currently fighting for her life against an irate empress . You see, before She and Kahn could go much further than they already had, Gina decided that she needed to go and freshen up a bit more. (read: go to the bathroom.) At the same time, Kahn had decided to go and lock the entrance to his home from the library. Thus giving them a bit more privacy, and making sure that nothing like what happened in the cave happened here. But as the saying goes, 'the best laid plans of mice and men / often go awry', and in this case it most certainly did.

For Empress Lynn had returned, and the place she appeared in was Kahn's bedroom, and her crush on Kahn had only Grown in the four year she had been gone. As such, after arriving home, and having developed quite a bit, she stripped herself down, and tucked herself under the covers of Kahn's bed. Right before Gina returned from the bathroom.

Of course Gina, who was feeling quite frisky, jumped into the bed and under the covers, and began to play with the body that she had thought was Kahn's. Of course Kahn then walked in not a moment later, and seeing that Gina seemed to be busy with someone, voiced his confusion. Which in turn alerted the two bimbos of the fact that they were not feeling up Kahn. (you'd think the d-cups would be a good enough clue for either one of them.)

Needless to say a verbal argument ensued, a challenge was made, and now Gina was standing on the roof of the library, attempting to fight for the right to court Kahn, and not get her face pounded in at the same time. Unfortunately she was a hot and sexy brains, while Lynn was a hot and sexy brawns. Can you say one sided.

"What's wrong blondie, getting tired already? It's barely been ten minutes." Lynn taunted as she dodged another of Gina's wild swings, before knocking her over with a light push.

-huf-hah-hoo- Panting in exhaustion, Gina was drenched in sweat as she stood up to try and hit Lynn again. "What the hell! KAhn said you were a beginner!" She screamed in frustration.

"And I was. But when you fight for you life for four years against horrifying monster, you begin to get better." Lynn replied. "Now let us continue. This is most amusing. And your minute of free hits I gave you is up, so I guess it's my turn now."

Still panting from how tired she was, Gina responded in gasping breaths. "Wait, wait, I give you win!" She cried out, not wanting to get her face smashed in by the crazy lady in front of her.

"Too bad. It don't work that way missy. I'm doing this for satisfaction. And I'll be satisfied when I smash you into a pile of weeping mush!" Screaming that last part, Lynn threw a glowing, chi enhanced punch, right at Gina's face.

Raising her arms in an attempt to block, Gina braced herself for what would be an incredibly painful hit. But as she closed her eyes and waited, she waited some more, before she realized that nothing was happening. She then opened her eyes to see a familiar fur coat standing in front of her. A fur coat that had its own glowing, chi enhanced fists. Each of which looked more refined that the last time she saw them. Needless to say she was extremely happy.

"Chris! What are you doing here?" Gina asked happily, but still confused. "I thought you were still down in the library practicing those chi techniques you found in your books."

Glancing back at the woman he had protected, he tensed his muscles, before throwing the Empress away from the two of them, using the same arm he had used to block her punch. Gina just watched in awe. "To answer your question, Gina. While you were trying to get some nookie, I had already finished looking over my books, and decided to look over some of your. Though I admit I didn't get most of it. Anyway, Kahn came looking for me and he told me what had happened. So I climbed up here to help."

Lynn, who had recovered from being tossed like a rag doll, came rushing over in response to his claims. "That is against the rules. No one can interfere-"

"Unless they are a champion not from Shangri-La. Which I am now naming Chris to be." Gina said smugly.

Chris cracked his knuckles in anticipation for the fight. He had been practicing a few techniques that he really wanted to try in a real battle. "You know I don't usually like hitting girls, and right now I'm not too happy with Gina. But when a person tries to treat the feelings of others as something insignificant. Well that just pisses me off. Especially when they treat a person like an object. In my opinion, guy or girl, if you try to do that you deserve to be beaten."

As he said this, Chris' chi began to flare up and take shape around his body in the form of translucent skin, that seemed to act as armor, but there seemed to be more of it centered around his limbs. All in all, it was quite cool, and looked quite heroic. Though the look on his face screamed crazy, psycho killer, to anyone that looked at him right now.

Seeing both his aura and the look on his face made Lynn gulp in fear, but she did not back down. Kahn would be hers. "Impressive technique but I've fought against the most terrifying beasts the astral rift has to offer. You don't stand a chance." She said cockily as she charged forward.

As she got closer to Chris, she jumped into the air and flipped to deliver a strong overhead kick to Chris' head, only for him to lean to the side and deflect it before delivering a powerful punch that landed with a sickening CRACK to Lynn's ribs.

"Aaggh!" Lynn screamed in pain as she held her ribs. Chris just retook his stance and gave a 'come at me' gesture.

This made Lynn go into a rage, and she rushed forward once again. "I've bested beasts twice your stature and twice you power. Observe my speed as I-" As Lynn threw several punches at speeds high enough to create afterimages, Chris simply grabbed her hand before backhanding her across the the while looking both disinterested, and enraged at the same time. He was starting to cause Gina some worry.

'_What's going on with Chris, he's usually such a nice, if slightly goofy, guy. What could've happened to him to cause him to be so angry at Lynn.'_ She wondered as she saw Chris stalk towards the fallen Empress, barely taking notice of the portal that had opened behind her.

As he got closer to her, Chris decided to explain as to _why_ he was so much better than her. "You know Lynn, the reason you're having so much trouble right now, is likely _because_ you fought terrible beasts for four years straight. Because beasts like the ones you seem to have fought, don't have tactics techniques, or skills. They have power, they have speed, but they don't have the ability to change the way they fight to adapt to their enemies. As such, you grew used to how the beasts you fought before fight, and now, when you fight someone with the skills to fight back, you cannot adapt to how I fight, and thus you can't-AAGH!"

As he prepared to deliver the finishing blow to the fallen Empress, he, unfortunately didn't realize that she had only been pretending to be nearly defeated, and because of his cockiness(talk about irony) Lynn was able to throw a strange powder into his eyes. "Hah! Shadow dust stings doesn't it now you stand no chance against-hurk!"

As Lynn ducked aroud Chris to try and attack from behind, she suddenly found herself held by the throat in Chris' hand. "Alright you! I may be blind now, but the techniques I learned from the scrolls I found in the library allow me to feel your life force. I don't need to see to beat you, now admit defeat before I SNAP YOUR NECK LIKE A TWIG!"

Terrified, and barely breathing, Lynn was barely able to stutter out a weak, "O-o-okay. I-I g-give up."

After hearing her surrender, and seeing her tears, he let her drop to the ground before turning away and walking towards Gina. Only to see that Cheetah was also standing next to her. "When'd you get here Cheetah?" He asked.

"Just after you knocked her away before getting that powder in your eyes... Chris... what happened to make you so angry. You're usually such a nice guy." Cheetah explained as she asked what was on both her and her sisters mind.

Sighing in frustration at the fact that he knew they wouldn't let up on this, he begrudgingly explained why he was so angry. "It has to do with my ex-girlfriend. You see, it started out nice, but she was trying to get her music career started, and I was still in school for my degree program, when she finally got the attention of a pretty famous agent. We had only been together for a few months, and I had managed to hold a good relationship, even though I didn't really tell her about the whole were-leopard thing until about two months before we broke up. Unfortunately I didn't really realize how she really thought of me. She only thought of me as a trophy, and when she got a contract to go on tour she demanded that I give up my schooling, my writing, my martial art, and never change into my were forms ever again, all so I could stay with her. I said no, and at that moment it was over. No ,we can still be friends, no talking about it, she just went 'fine, we're through' and walked away. I didn't try to reconcile with her because I realized, from the look in her eyes, that she didn't really care for me. So that was that." Chris explained tiredly. He didn't like talking about his past much. "It was nice in the beginning, but I guess we both changed. That, and I don't like being tied down, and treated like an object. Much like Lynn was treating Kahn when she challenged you. I she really cared for Kahn, she wouldn't had fought for his favor, she would have explained her feelings, with him, and done something else. Like let _him_ decide who he should be with."

Both Gina and Cheetah looked at Chris with pity in their eyes. Not the mocking type of pity either. They were truly sorry for him. "I guess that's why you didn't really want to date either of us when we first met. huh." Cheetah said.

"Yeah, you two are nice girls. But I'm not really ready to start dating again right now. That and neither of you are really my type. No offense, but Gina's just a bit too smart for me, not that, that's a bad thing Gina, but I just want to talk to be able to talk to someone without feeling like I'm too simple for them, or have them talk about things too complicated for me. And Cheetah, you're with Stripe now, and I don't want to get between the two of you. So...yeah..." Chris looked towards the ground nervously as he explained several things about himself that he hadn't really told anyone before.

"Well then... I guess we should go downstairs and get ready to go back to our friends,huh." Gina said.

As they walked back down to the library, leaving a crying Lynn on the roof top, as she swore to gain vengeance for her defeat, they all chose not to speak for a while, to go over the things that they had just learned.

Gina was upset that Chris had been going through so much, and he hoped that things would get better for him soon. Cheetah was happy that Chris was happy for her being with Stripe, but she was wondering what it would have been like if he had been more... whole, happy, or something else that he just didn't seem to be. Chris on the other hand was feeling quite relaxed, like the world had been lifted from his shoulders.

He'd been wanting to tell the sisters a bit more about why they didn't really interest him, and now he had. Though he did hope that he would find a girl soon. One that he could enjoy his time with. Maybe there he would find a girl when he eventually went to the Jade realm, maybe.

Having reached the library, Gina held up her books as Kahn handed Chris a remote control that he then used to open a strange wormhole like opening made out of light. "Alright Gina, got your books ready?" He asked his friend as he threw his own books through the light-gate.

"Yes I do Chris. The light-gate's set to the library at my dads, right?" Gina asked, and seeing him nod she threw her books into the portal. "Good thing this is here. If they weren't then they'd get wet if we took them to Atlantis."

As the light-gate to Dr. Diggers library closed, the two sisters and Chris turned towards the portal left open by the Pool of Legends. "Okay people, let's move. We got a city to save!" Chris said enthusiastically. Gina stole a quick kiss from Kahn, before rushing through the portal, followed by Chris and Cheetah. "See ya Kahn, thanks for the books."

...

Within the chamber where the rest of the group was, Stripe was having a rushed and whispered conversation with Princess Tyr.

"Look around you Princess. You yourself have said that the defenses around Atlantis are not enough to hold back the might of Armageddon. The only way for us to defeat it is from on the inside." He whispered furiously to Tyr.

"I know that Stripe, but what you are suggesting is suicide. Going in there now would incinerate you. I cannot allow you to die like that. No matter what." Tyr whispered in reply.

""Millions will suffer and die if I do not. Possibly billions if that thing reaches the surface. If I need to die to prevent that then so be it. It is a small price to-" Stripe was cut off due to the sudden arrival of Chris, Gina, and Cheetah.

"Well... it certainly got crowded in this place, huh." Was the first thing out of Chris' mouth when the trio arrived back from Shangri-La. "And Cheetah, your boy friend-"

"I heard Chris, these ears can hear whispers of suicidal sacrifice just as well as yours can... well, nearly."Cheetah replied.

Noticing that they were back, their friends all voiced their happiness at seeing the trio return. "Hey look, Gina, Cheetah, and Chris are back everyone." Was the call from Mesha.

"Hold on Mesha, I need to speak with Stripe for a moment. The very idea that he should go into Armageddon only to die is totally unacceptable, and-"

WHSSSSSSSSS

Cheetah was cut off as the chamber they were in was filled with a strange noise.

"Guys! Somethings happening to the pool!" Ace yelled from the background.

Es everybody looked towards the pool, they saw the floating and disfigured face of someone they all thought to be dead. The face of their current enemy, Gryphon.

"Ah ha ha ha ha, Greetings, doomed ones... especially you, dear sister." The people watching the pools all began to talk furiously with each other as he continued to speak.

"SHUT IT, ALL OF YOU. It looks like he's saying something important." Chris screamed in order to hear what Gryphon was saying.

"I am now more powerful than ever, due to being absorbed into Armageddon rather than being destroyed. Now I **AM** Armageddon, and if you do not wish to be destroyed, and wish for the safety of your precious city. You, your allies, and everyone else must all surrender to me by tomorrow night. If you don't, the crystal blue seas of Atlantis will become crimson red! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA"

As usual Chris was the first to speak. "Well... that's not good!"

...

**AN:** If any of you noticed, the style of writing changed at some point in the story, from almost only dialogue, to only mostly dialogue. Anyway, Starting the next chapter I plan to begin focusing more on Chris, and what he's doing. The reason being that eventually I'm going to get into the main storyline, and when I do I will not be having Chris go on all the same adventures as Gina and Cheetah. But that doesn't mean he won't be doing nothing, oh no. He'll still have his own adventures, but they'll be his own, not Gina's.

Okay, That was all. Please review if you feel like it. Unless you're going to flame it. Then please go use said flames to burn in a horrible agonizing death. Thank you.

PS: I'll try to find some pictures for reference to some of Chris' techniques later. If I can find any. Toodles.


	5. CH 5: HOLY GARDEN

Cheetahs Aren't The Only Endangered Species

Chapter Five: HOLY GARDEN! Beware of Guard Dogs!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the OC's

**AN:** Okay, here's the scoop for this chapter. There will be a few references to other series for techniques that Chris will learn, such as Naruto shadow clones, Ranma hidden weapons techniques, and a few other things. Don't worry however, this will not make him over powerful, and there will be limitations on what the skills he uses can do. As such, he won't be able to make a thousand plus clones, and learn everything a mage needs to know, in less than a week. They're more of a 'I want to do this and this at the same time but only have two hands' kind of thing. Not a training aid. Also, this chapter will focus much more on Chris then the previous chapters. Now that that's cleared up, here is chapter five.

"Hello" speech

'_what the...' thoughts/flashback/other_

...

Normal POV

Previously, the group of adventurous world savers were given an ultimatum by the evil Lord Gryphon; give up Princess Tyr and her allies, or die. Of course the heroes of the story couldn't have that now could they. Which is why we now find Gina, Cheetah, Chris, and Stripe, now at the home of Dr. Theodore Diggers, while they figure out a plan to destroy Gryphon, and Armageddon, one and for all. Though there has been, unfortunately, little success.

"Gina?" Dr. Diggers called out after he walked down stairs. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Huh! Oh, hi dad. You're certainly up early, it's still only four in the morning." Gina replied distractedly as she continued to look through the books she had acquired from Shangri-La.

"Well I had initially thought you were an intruder. It's not everyday that someone gets into my house without using any of the entrances. By the way, when did you come in? Last night or just now." Dr. Digger asked.

Still reading her books, Gina replied, "Just now. We actually came from Atlantis, but I had to come back here since I didn't want my new books to get wet."

"Atlantis!?"

"Yeah, we discovered it yesterday with the help of a friend from El Dorado."

"Heh, so you've been busy this week I see. Is that where all these books came from." He asked after looking at the pile of books Gina was looking through. Just then however, Chris walked into the room."Actually, we got those from Shangri-La, and several of those are mine. New chi control exercises and all that." He said, grabbing a book from the top of the pile, and sitting down to read, in the process. "Though what we're really doing is looking for a way to defeat a mega huge colossus called Armageddon from rampaging across the world on a path of world domination and destruction!"

"Oh I see. You know if you wanted some privacy for your studying all you needed to do was ask. I do wish you wouldn't play these games with me, and even more that I didn't always fall for them." Dr. Diggers said, turning away from the reading pair.

"I'm not playing dad, and neither is Chris. It's all true, I swear!" Came Gina's indignant reply. "You can go ask Cheetah if you want to. She's downstairs in the gym with our friend from El Dorado right now. I think my clone's gone down to check on them now that we've finished writing the next part of our new series." Chris said, backing up Gina as he continued to read.

"Clone?" Gina and her father inquired at the same time. (an: prepare for info dump)

"Yeah, it's one of the techniques I learned from one of the books I got from Shangri-La. It allows you to divide a small amount of your chi into a construct of said chi, and the resulting clone has all your memories. The only problem is that the energy disperses if they get hit by more force than a pat on the back, or if it loses the energy needed to keep its form, because it does lose energy. So they're not really useful other than distractions, and perhaps a bit of labor work. Though they were a great help in finishing my book. It would have taken forever to finish it otherwise." Chris explained to them. "I'm actually using it to train my chi control, since it's not much use beyond that."

"Oh, okay, but it doesn't let you keep it's memories, or anything else like that one TV show." Gina questioned.

"Nope. Not unless I absorb the energy used back into my body. So they could only give back written information that they've read. It I used them for training them they would just dispel and turn into a waste of energy." He explained to the now interested Diggers.

"Well that is a most interesting technique Chris, have you learned anything else from your books." Dr. Diggers inquired. "I assume that that is not all you have been practising."

Chris rubbed the back of his head nervously as he answered. "Well... I've mostly been practicing the control techniques in the books to get a better grasp on on ki, while it is still within my body, so that I can get more control of my chi after my ki has been converted into it.* So far, I can now walk up walls, push my ki out of my hands as chi to create a ball light, and I can disperse my chi attacks after they have left my body. Beyond that, well, I can use my ki while it's still in my body to strengthen it, and I've almost perfected my three personal techniques."

Gina perked up at that. "Speaking of which, what _are_ your personal techniques. You said you had one supportive, one offensive, and one defensive. I know that the offensive one creates that claw on your hand, but what about the others?" She asked.

Chris looked smug as he gave her a smirk after hearing her deduction. "Actually Gina, that claw technique was a part of my defensive skill. That one creates a thick layer of chi around parts of my body, not only enhancing it, but also acting as armor, you saw this when I fought Empress Lynn."

A look of realisation appeared on Gina's face. "Oh yeah!"

"Anyway, my offensive technique is creating a sword of chi that I can use, either as a sword, or throw, like a knife. And since it doesn't use aether, it won't be dispelled if it comes in contact with metal. I can also combine those two techniques to make a bladed armor. And then my supportive technique allows me to make a connection with another person with my chi, this technique allows me to share my energy, either chi or aura, and give the person I'm connected to abilities similar to mine, like my regeneration, which if you've noticed, is quite faster than Cheetahs. Oh! Speaking of Cheetah, she finally learned how to change at will whenever she wants to."

After Chris finished his explanation, he noticed that Dr. Diggers looked a bit worried after hearing about his supportive technique, but he wrote it off as him being scared he would lose too much energy if he was over using it. (an: info dump over)

"Interesting techniques Chris. They will most certainly be helpful in the future, but remember, it doesn't matter how many skills or spells you have, if you do not use them properly." Dr. Diggers said in a sage like voice. "Though, once you get better at controlling your ki and chi, I would be happy to teach you some aura techniques, if it interests you at that time."

Seeing that the conversation was slowly changing over to that of magic, a topic Gina was not the most interested in, due to her inability to use it, Gina decided to walk out and find her sister and Stripe; see what they're up to and all that. Thus leaving Chris and her father to talk.

Chris was thankful of the offer, but knew he still needed practice. "Thanks Dr. Diggers, and don't worry; I know that I need to spend some more time mastering these techniques before moving on to the more advanced ones. I do wish I had a teacher though; it would make things much faster." He said, getting a bit disappointed at the end.

Dr. Diggers looked thoughtful for a second before speaking up. "Hmm, perhaps when you are not busy I can introduce you to a friend of my wife. She happens to be the best known war mage, as of now, in the Jade realm; that I know of. Perhaps you can impress her and become one of her students." He said as he thought about how he could help.

"However, if you were to become her student it would not be a part time thing. You would have to spend at least six months in the Jade realm studying under her before you could leave her tutelage. Perhaps a bit more or less; depends on how skilled she thinks you are. So think carefully on what you wish to do." Dr. Diggers finished with in a strict, no nonsense, tone.

He realised that this wasn't something that he could just decide on in just a few hours, so Chris decided that he would do what Dr. Diggers suggested.

"All right Dr. Diggers. I'll take my time and think about it. But I don't think it should take me too long. Don't get me wrong here... but no matter how thankful I am for what you and your daughters have done for me, I still want to get away from things around here for now. Perhaps some time in another world will help." He said to Dr. Diggers

"Well... just let me know and I'll try and-" **-ROAR-** Dr. Diggers was cut off as a loud roar rang through the house. "-sigh- looks like this conversation will have to wait for a while Chris, it appears as though Gina has done something to annoy Cheetah... again..."

Dr. Diggers was rubbing the bridge of his nose at his daughter's antics. "Just remember to think about my offer before accepting, okay. For now though, let's go see what my daughters are up to."

"Sure thing Dr. Diggers." Chris said as they began walking down the hall towards the gym. "What do you think set Cheetah off anyway. It must've been something big, cause she would've had to shift to her animal form to make a roar _that_ loud, and just cause it's the full moon, doesn't mean that she's gonna change on a whim. Especially if Stripe's with her."

Hearing that last part peaked Dr. Diggers interest. "Oh? And why is that?" As he said this, he slowly began to give off the vibe of a protective father. Chris, not wanting to see the 'flaming skull of doom', told him all about Stripe and their adventure so far, via a brief summary. Luckily it was a bit of a walk to get to the gym.

"All in all, Stripes a good guy, but I'm worried that Cheetahs aggressive behaviour might slowly turn him away, and changing into a full out extra large cheetah, the animal of course, won't really help things. I don't mean that I think they're wrong for each other, quite the opposite actually, but Stripe needs someone to give him a bit of a push to help him reassure himself regarding staying with Cheetah." Chris explained to Dr. Diggers.

Inwardly he was hoping that Dr. Diggers would help Stripe become more sure of himself. In all honesty he didn't think he was the right person to help encourage their relationship. Dr. Diggers, on the other hand, was Cheetahs father, adoptive perhaps, but regardless, he would be a much better help in Convincing Stripe to stick around. "Hey, there he is now, maybe you can say something to him that I just can't."

Dr. Diggers looked towards the large window Stripe was standing by before he gave Chris an amused look.

"You know, trying to use me to help a boy I don't know get together with my daughter wouldn't have worked if I didn't believe that you were right in regards to their situation, but I'll let it slide, this time. Just don't try to do it again." He almost gave Chris the 'flaming skull of doom' but decided not to, as he walked towards Stripe.

Chris just rubbed his head sheepishly as he stood back near the wall. Still within hearing distance, but not so close that he was really intruding, or even eavesdropping, since they were perfectly capable of seeing him listen in. If they wanted him to leave then they could say something. "I'm that see through, eh. Damn!"

"Stripe of El Dorado, I presume." Dr. Diggers said as he walked up to Stripe.

"Huh? Oh!... You must be Dr. Diggers, Gina's father and Cheetah's guardian." He said in response to Dr. Diggers greeting.

"Indeed. Gina and Chris have told me a lot about you. You're the young fellow who Brittany won't leave in peace these days, eh? Well from what I've heard you can't be such a bad guy now can you?" Dr. Diggers asked rhetorically.

Surprised at how civil the conversation was going, Stripe paused for a moment before he began to speak again. "I see... You are worried that I may not be right for your adopted daughter. Well there is no need to fear, I do not believe that she is the one for me."

Hearing this Chris held back a cringe at how certain he sounded.

"Oh? And why not?" Dr. Diggers asked.

Stripe paused again before answering Dr. Diggers question. "In my homeland I was raised and trained to be the strongest warrior there was, in order to protect my people. But after having met Chee- sorry, Brittany makes me feel... small, for lack of a better word. As much as it shames me to admit it, I find her terribly intimidating."

"I see... You know Stripe, I don't think you mean what you say. Oh you mind might think that way, no doubt about that, but I believe your heart, your being, you believe differently. I think that you are simply using what you've mentioned so far as a scapegoat for a different fear. A committed relationship. Just from seeing you for the short time that I have I can see that you do care deeply for Brittany, but these feelings you have are fairly new, since, as you said, you have been raised as a warrior, and I doubt you've had many chances to go on any dates; correct?" Dr. Diggers stated.

"Now, I don't condemn your fears, but there are a great many people in this world who have lost their chance to be truly happy because there had the same fears you have. So please, look at what you stand to gain from this relationship, and reconsider what you have told me so far." After finishing giving his, admittedly long' piece of advice advice, Dr. Diggers started puffing his pipe as he waited for Stripe to answer.

"Perhaps you are right Dr. Diggers. Gina has told me that as a magic user you can read a person's aura; perhaps you know me better than I do. And you are correct in that I have had few chances to date. I will think deeper on the matter." As he turned away from Dr. Digger, Cheetah came around the corner calling for him.

"Stripe? Oh, um, 'scuse us for a sec, dad... look... Stripe...? I'm sorry if I-" "It wasn't you or your actions, Cheetah." Stripe interrupted her mid apology. "I just needed a timeout."

Smiling to himself at how things seemed to be patching up, Chris chose to speak up. "-Ahem- Dr. Diggers?" The mentioned Doctor turned, along with Cheetah and Stripe. "Perhaps we should return to the library. Help out Gina a bit, and if possible maybe you could help me with a problem I'm having with one of the techniques in one of the scrolls I got from Shangri-La."

After hearing his request, Cheetah looked thankful, as did Stripe. Dr. Diggers just looked amused. Clearly, Chris was indeed quite see through. "Very well then Chris. Brittany? If you need me I'll be in the library, and Stripe? I hope to see you around here again in the future." Dr. Diggers said.

"Thank you Dr. Diggers. Your hospitality honors me." Stripe responded. Giving a nod his direction, Dr. Diggers teleported to the library, leaving Chris, Cheetah, and Stripe alone in the hallway.

"Right then!" Chris said as he clapped his hands together. "I'll be off now, you two behave now, ya hear." Turning around, Chris began his walk back to the library. But as he was walking back, he heard over his shoulder the sound of a body tackling and pinning another body underneath their own. _'Hehehe, looks like someone's about to have some fun time. Cheetah better take it easy on him though, if not he might just break.'_

...

Back in the library with Gina and her father.

We currently see Gina looking over several maps, each of which have a number of large x's placed on them, as she continues to look over more maps. "Zaporozh'ye? No... Sibiu? No... Matochkin Shar? No... Cleveland? Maybe..."

"Hello, Gina. Have you solved your problem, yet?" Dr. Diggers asked as he appeared on the far side of the room behind Gina. "Almost dad." She replied, not looking away from her maps. "I'm just stuck on one minor detail." "Well perhaps I can help." Dr. Diggers offered as he rubbed his chin. "A little bit of magical knowledge might be just what you need to figure out your problem."

Gina turned to face her father before answering. "I dunno dad... I mean... you always bail me out when the going gets tough, and I want to be able to take care of myself for when the time comes that you can't. You won't always be there for me you know."

Just then Chris walked into the library. "Ah, but Gina this **is** a world-threatening emergency, isn't it?" Gina nearly jumped out of her skin at Chris' sudden appearance, but realized that he did have a point.

"I guess you do have a point there Chris." Gina said as her heart rate slowed down to regular speeds. "Okay then, for starters, on the table here are two magical artifacts. The Gem of Returning, and The Crown of The Ancients. I plan to use both in order to destroy Armageddon, The stone to nullify the magic, and the crown to protect Stripes other heirlooms that are currently acting as Armageddons power source."

"So what's the problem then." Chris asked, confused as to why Gina was having issues. "It sounds pretty straightforward to me."

Gina answered, looking tired as she did. "The problem, Chris, is that the Crown and the Gem don't work together. One or the other; not both!"

Dr. Diggers stepped in here when he realized that this topic was starting to get to his daughter. "Calm down Gina, there must be something that can make the two work together. If not then you would have sought out a different method to defeat this... Armageddon."

This calmed Gina down, somewhat. "Yeah, you're right dad. One of my books mentions an element the can be used to make the two work together, but I can't find a source of Hindrium **anywhere** on earth. At least not on these maps anyway."

"Well couldn't Dr. Diggers just conjure up as much as we need?" Chris asked. "I mean, I don't know _that_ much about magic, but I do know that conjuring things isn't impossible. And you also said that you don't need that much, right?"

Gina stopped looking at her maps again to give her father a hopeful look.

Unfortunately he had to dash those hopes away with his next statement. "Sorry Gina, I'm powerful, but not _that_ powerful. Not even any of the deities I know would be able pull off that one." He told them quite seriously. "Hindrium has been around for a long time; longer than Hydrogen, even. And Hydrogen's been around since the beginning of the universe. However, fortunately for you there is a source of Hindrium here on earth, but the only way to get to it is through an elusive anomaly known as The Ether Gate."

"Well alright then, you can just poof us over and-"

"It's not that simple Chris." Dr. Diggers interrupted as he picked up a globe and began to spin it slowly. "The Ether Gate is not in a fixed location. It only appears for ten seconds at midnight, and then magically changes its location on for the next night. No on, mortal or immortal, has ever been able to predict its next appearance."

Suddenly several lights appeared on the globe, at seemingly random locations, with numbers next to each light. "All I can do, unfortunately, is show you where it's been for the last ten days. Perhaps you can do something with this information that no one else has."

Gina bent over to look at the globe closer, and in the background Chris held up his hand and counted down from five. Dr. Diggers just gave him yet another funny look, until he hit zero, at which point Gina pointed at the globe and said, quite certainly, "It'll appear here next."

Dr. Diggers looked at where Gina was pointing at, while also trying to ignore Chris' chuckling in the background. "That's... that's in the middle of the Red Sea."

"Farasan Island, to be exact." Gina corrected.

Dr. Diggers was amazed. "How... no one's ever been able to predict where the gate will appear next before. Gina, you must tell me,please, how did you figure it out?"

Chris leaned in, eager to hear the answer since he was curious as well.

"Well, if you really want to hear how your non-magic using daughter was able to figure out what you couldn't..." She trailed off tauntingly.

"If you please, Gina..." Dr. Diggers said.

"To tell the truth, it was quite easy. You see the gate appears exactly on the line that goes between the earth and the center of the universe. An ever changing angle that I happen to know by heart." Gina explained, as a matter of factly.

"Wait, isn't that the same thing you use to pick your lotto numbers?" Chris asked.

"Why yes it is Chris, and I managed to win said lotto four times in the past." Gina told him, quite proud of herself.

"But you're not old enough to gamble yet. You're only eighteen." He stated.

Here's where Dr. Diggers started giving his daughter an, explain right now missy, kind of look. Seeing said look, she grabbed Chris by his furry arm and began to lead him away to the hallway. "-Hehe- Anyway, toodles, dad. We gotta go grab Stripe and Cheetah, and get the car packed and ready to go."

"The car?" Chris asked, confused. "Why can't we take the light gate?"

"Because it can only take us to places we've been before, now c'mon."

Deciding to humor the illegal gambling girl, Chris picked up the pace to help her find Cheetah and Stripe.

"Now where can those two be?" He heard her mutter under his breath. "Maybe in here?" She said as she reached for the guestroom door knob. Not noticing the do not disturb sign on the door handle.

' _Oh god, I know she's blonde but she's not seriously...'_ "Gina, wait!" But Chris' waning came too late, as Gina had already fully opened the door, giving them both an good look at the -ahem- activity, the two were involved in.

"Cheetah... Stripe... are you two in- WHOOPS!- sorry." As she slammed the door closed as fast as she could Chris could only face palm at the short blondes obliviousness, before immediately writing things down in his notebook.

'_At least I got a nice view, seriously, what does Dr. Digger feed these girls. I can honestly say that I've never seen a figure like that on a girl I've been friends with before. Good god, why couldn't she be a redhead. Maybe then I would have gone for her.'_ As Chris lamented over the fact that Cheetah wasn't a redhead, or of asian descent, all while writing down ideas for another book, Gina got chewed out by her sister about knocking.

"Well then ladies, and Stripe. Shall we be off." He said as he put his notebook away.

The sisters just glared at him. Him and his nonchalance.

...

Several hours later, roughly midday to early afternoon, somewhere low over the Nubian Desert. The Diggers group can be seen flying inside one of Ace's new planes. This one being large enough to hold the new and improved Gina mobile MK3. Complete with hovercar capabilities.

"Alright people, holding steady at 300 knots and an altitude of ten feet." Ace said happily as he continued to fly at an insanely low altitude.

"Are you sure this is safe Ace. I mean, there _are_ reasons why they call it 'the minimum safe altitude', aren't there?" Chris said nervously as he looked out the window.

"Oh don't worry so much Chris. Ace knows what he's doing, right Cheetah!?" "-Hmph-" Needless to say, Cheetah still wasn't happy with her sisters inability to knock.

"Aw, c'mon sis, you can't still be mad at me. Can you?" Cheetah ignored her. "I'm sorry okay. Just talk to me, please?"

Ace looked back at the two sisters before turning to give Stripe a questioning look. "What's up with those two Stripe?"

"Don't worry about it Ace, it's personal." Stripe said as he kept his voice as monotone as he could. Just then, Gina started getting louder with her pleas.

"Hey! Would you please cut the noise back there. Seriously, what happened to you guys back at the mansion." Before Stripe could say anything Chris popped his head forward to ask a question.

"The better question here, Ace, is what's that blinking red dot on the control panel mean?" He said as he pointed out the emergency light that was blinking dangerously on Ace's control panel.

After hearing Chris' question, Ace turned his neck towards the control panel so fast Chris thought he was gonna suffer whiplash. Luckily he didn't. "Oh shit! Someone's got us locked on with a missile. Best transmit my I.F.F. cod so these scrubs don't blow us to pieces." He exclaimed in a panicked voice.

"Blow us to pieces..." Chris muttered quietly. Even Gina had stopped talking at the possibility of death.

"Aw geez, radio message coming in." _"-bzzt- t'anks for confomin' it was youse Ace, ol buddy boy."_ "Dark Bird!?" _"Dat's right, and me and me night flight's is gonna blow youse to smithereens. Ta-ta Ace.-bzzt-"_ The radio cut out as the now known Dark Bird finished her threat to ace.

"Ummm, Ace? These wouldn't happen to be the same people you pissed off on the way to the helicarrier, before we went to Atlantis. Would they?" Gina asked from the back.

"Why yes they would Gina, but no need to worry, even if they unload all their missiles on us at once, the fact that we're only ten feet off the turf, and my ECM's blasting at full power, everythings a target out here. so there missile with detonate well before they hit us. -KABOOM- Kinda like that." Ace said as the entire missile payload from the the Night Flight exploded several meters behind them.

-BOOM- Unfortunately it looks like Dark Bird had another idea in mind.

"Ace! She just liquidated your right engine!" Stripe called out as he looked out the window.

"I know Stripe, but I can't do anything about that gatling gun of hers. You guys better get outta here... I'll be fine." He said as he began pushing buttons with extreme precision.

"And what? Leave you behind to-" Chris was cut off by Gina's yell.

"Guys! Ace knows what he's doing. Now come on, and Chris, you'll need to shift to your animal form again. Sorry." She said as she prepped her car.

Giving one last look towards his pilot friend, Chris turned to the Gina mobile before jumping in, shifting in mid leap. Luckily the clothes he had on were several sizes too large, and he had another pair of clothes in the car. Unluckily, it was even more cramped since he had grown by several inches since the last time he shifted.

"You know next time I shift to this form I'm gonna be bigger than my hybrid form." He said as he moved to give Stripe a bit more room. "Yeah I know. Dad said you're gonna be like five or six feet at the shoulder when you finally stop quit complaining and let me drive" Gina said as she pushed a button on the dashboard.

As the Gina mobiles roof closed on top of them Gina rolled out the back of the plane. Luckily it was only a ten foot drop to the ground. "Oh stop worrying you guys, this Gina mobile's sturdy enough to survive a drop from the top of a skyscraper. And even if it couldn't, I still got three more at home. Right Cheetah?" Cheetah just grunted. This only partially lowered their fears. "Hey, does anyone else hear the whistling sound."

"Yeah, it's that Dark Bird chick. She and her crew just dropped a bunch of bombs." Chris said from his extremely cramped position near the window.

"Is that what it is, huh. I thought it was my brakes again." Gina said calmly.

As soon as she said this she reached down to the gear shift. "Hold on people, I'm shifting into second gear."

"SECOND GEAR! We're already going at nearly a hundred mile an hour!" As soon as Stripe said this he was pushed back into his seat due to the extreme G-forces.

"WOOHOO, I hope there's no cops out today. A speeding ticket for three hundred and eighty miles an hour is a pain in the ass to pay. Ain't that right Cheetah." Once again Cheetah just grumbled.

Just then, Chris saw that Dark Bird and her Night Flight had pulled away from what appeared to be a large torpedo explosion. _"-bzzt- Hey are you guys alright down there?"_ Came Ace's voice over the radio.

"Yeah, we're all good down here Ace. Nice job Ace." Gina complemented.

"_Thanks Gee, but that holographic projector you hooked me up with is what really did the trick."_ "Naturally. Alright Ace, I'll talk to you later. We're about to go onto the sea." _"Alright Gee, TTYL! -bzzt-"_

"Hey Gina? How long will it take for us to get there?" Stripe asked.

"Don't worry Stripe. We'll get there before midnight in hover mode." "Um... Gina?" "Cheetah!? Hurray! My baby sister's talking to me again. What can I do for you Cheetah?" Gina was ecstatic at the fact that her sister was talking to her again.

"Turn around Gina. I need to get myself into a nice clean gas station bathroom." Cheetah said in a hurried voice. "Huh?" I gotta go Gina... BAD"

Chris sighed as he gave Stripe a pat on the back with his paws. "We **told **you not to guzzle down that extra large big gulp Cheetah. We told you."

...

Later, just off the coast of Farasan Island, only a few minutes to midnight.

-TWEEEEEET!- "I'm up, I'm up!" Cheetah and Gina were awoken by the high pitch whistle coming from Chris, who was still hidden in the back corner of the car beside Stripe.

"Oh good, you're up. Stripe and I were worried you had died from the boredom." The two girls just glared at him as Stripe removed his ear plugs.

"There are better ways to wake people up you know." Gina muttered as she attempted to stretch within the confines of the vehicle. Cheetah grumbled, much like she had been doing all day, and It was starting to annoy Chris.

"Okay seriously, Cheetah, your sister saw you fucking your boyfriend because she didn't knock. Get over it. There are worse people that could have seen you Cheetah. Like your father, for example." He said in an attempt to make Cheetah realise that it wasn't so bad.

Cheetah, who was about to retort, shut her mouth and turned away. "It's none of your business Chris. So stay out of it." She said stubbornly.

"Whatever. Just don't let this get in the way of your work okay. We're trying to save the world here, and internal fighting is just the thing we need for a lethal screw up." Chris said seriously as the car arrived at its destination. "Now let's get to work. Armageddon ain't gonna stop itself after all."

As he hopped out of the car, and shifted to his hybrid form, he heard Gina make a few remarks towards her sister. "You know, I get why you're so mad at me sis, I really do. I mean, after seeing... how well built, Stripe is. I totally get why you were-"

"Enough! Gina. That's none of your business. Now shut up, and leave it!" Cheetah shrieked in embarrassment. "Alright fine. Subject officially dropped."

After hearing this, Chris facepalmed, before turning towards Stripe, who looked extremely embarrassed, and gave him a pitying look and a pat on the back in support. "Hold on there bud. Everybody knows that it gets worse before it gets better. It's just how it is. And hey! I'll probably go through the same thing when I meet a girl. So when that happens, you have free reign to help me out, okay." Stripe just gave him a thankful, yet exasperated look.

-FWOOOOOOSH- Suddenly, as the clock struck midnight, a beam of light shot down from the sky and formed a tower several feet wide. "Alright folks, let's do this. LEROOOY JENKIIINS!" Gina, Cheetah and Stripe, just stared, open mouthed, at the Ether Gate Chris had just charged into.

"Well there's a nerd at his finest, wouldn't you say, Gina?... Gina?" Cheetah looked back at her sister, only to see that she appeared to be more upset that **she** hadn't done that. As opposed to shocked at the sheer stupidity of the action.

"Hey! Wait for me dammit!" Gina screamed before she too rushed into the gate. Her sister and Stripe following right behind her.

"About time you slowpokes came through. Oops, watch your feet Gina, it's really dark here for some reason." Chris said as he helped Gina, who had tripped on a root, to her feet.

"Hey, Cheetah, watch your hands." "Oh, sorry Stripe, hehe." "It's fine, but your hands are cold." Cheetah was clearly enjoying the darkness.

"Don't let her fool you Stripe, Cheetah's got infrared vision. So if she grabs you, it's on purpose." "GINA!" "What, it's the truth." -CLICK-

As Gina turned her flashlight on, Chris could see that Cheetah was indeed grabbing onto Stripe, in a very inappropriate manner as well. "Seriously, you two. Get a room already." He said as he looked away from the lovely couple.

"We did, but Gina had to go ahead and-" "Where are we Gina? It looks like we're in a forest of some sort." Stripe asked, interrupting the inevitable outburst from his girlfriend.

"We're still in the Ether Gates dimension Stripe. Though this forest is a bit of a mystery. I mean, it's so thick that not even the starlight gets through. I guess it's just part of the dimension, that's all. Anyway, let's go people, we need to find us some Hindrium!" Gina said, voicing her hypothesis.

Suddenly Chris tensed up, and he could see that Cheetah had as well. "Omigod shut up! All of you!" "What's wrong Chee-"

"Quiet Gina." Chris said as he listened in with Cheetah. "There's something here, something big... something that gets fur on the back of my neck standing on end... and this smell.. it smells like...WOLVES!" He yelled in surprise.

"NOW!" Just as Chris realised what it was he and Cheetah were worried about, two were-wolves, a male and a female, lept from the bushes beside them, aiming for lethal strikes to both Chris and Cheetah. "DIE WERECATS!"

Chris, due to his training, managed to dodge completely. Cheetah, on the other hand, was only able to block the attack, and thus got tackled away from the group. "The girl is mine Thabian! You take the albino and his friends. Don't let them interrupt us." The female yelled to the male.

"Of course Jetta. But be caref-oof-" Thabian was unable to finish his statement as Chris had managed to get him with an uppercut that knocks him back a bit.

"Stripe go help Cheetah!" "But-" NOW!" Chris yelled that last part hoping it would get him moving faster. It did.

As Stripe ran after Cheetah and Jetta, Chris turned towards Thabian preparing to give him the fight of his life. Only to receive a chokeslam right in the face, throwing him into the dirt. "-oof-"

"That was a nice punch were-cat. What breed are you. I know you're not a cheetah; you're far too slow." He said in attempt to taunt Chris.

As Thabian went for another punch, Chris ducked and went for a knee strike, only for it to be dodged. "I'm a snow leopard, what of it, and why are you attacking us." The were-wolf looked surprised at this statement.

"A snow leopard, but your kind were wiped out well before the second fall of Iceron." The two exchanged blows to the face; knocking each other back. Before they once again resumed an exchange of blows. "And to answer your question, we attacked because of you and the were-cheetah, but as you are not a were-cheetah, you may leave. We have no quarrel with you, but the cheetah will die."

Chris flinched when he heard this and Thabian was able to grab hold of his wrists. The two eight foot tall were-creatures were now face to face, having paused to listen to the sounds of Cheetah and Stripes fight with Jetta.

Hearing a scream off in the distance, Thabian grinned. "You see cat, you stand no chance against us, now turn around and-" "-Phew- you stink you know that." A voice said, interrupting the were-wolf and catching him off guard.

"What! -WHAM!- ARRGH! MY ARM!" Thabian was knocked to the ground as he grabbed his arm where Gina had fired a point blank blast from her super pistol.

"Thanks Gina. I needed something to distract him." Chris said in thanks.

"Distract him! That should have liquified him!" Gina was not pleased with the lackluster results her pistol had been making so far. "What the heck are you people made of!?"

"Stuff that's tough, now go help your sister." He ordered.

"What! I'm not leaving you here to fight off that thing!" Gina said as she pointed to a slowly rising Thabian.

"I can take care of myself Gina, and your gun would do more good where it's needed now go!" He said with stubbornness.

As Chris finished telling Gina to leave, he activated his Chi claws. "Now them mutt! Where were we!? -GRAAH-" As Chris yelled as he charged forwards, his whole body covered in hardened aura, Gina turned and ran towards where she could here her sister and Stripe struggling.

As Thabian turned to look at Chris, he was so surprised at the now literally glowing were-cat that he was unable to block the right straight that had been aimed at his face. Because of this, he then went flying through several trees before rolling to a stop. Chris then leapt towards the downed were-wolf with the intent of smashing his head in with his foot. Unfortunately Thabian was able to recover a bit faster than Chris could attack and was able to grab his foot and throw him head first into several trees.

Facing each other once again the two large weres then charged each other at full ramming speed. Just before they connected with each other, however, Chris quickly leapt to the side, landing feet first on a tree trunk, before immediately jumping towards the were-wolf's open side, and slamming him into the ground, and putting him into a submission hold. Unfortunately he had to drop his chi to do this, as it made him too bulky to maneuver properly.

As Thabian struggled to get out of Chris' professional hold, Chris couldn't help but get a few words in to grate on his opponents nerves. "-Hehe- Not so tough now, eh big guy. Don't suppose you could call your bitch over here as well, could you. I really don't want her dealing with my friends."

Thabian realised that Chris was just trying to rile him up so as to get him to call for his partner, knowing that his friends couldn't take her. "I see. Your friends are not as skilled as you at fighting, and yo wish to save them from harm. Well I'm sorry, but there's no way I'm going to call my mate for help when she's about to finish off your friends."

"I was afraid you'd say that, guess I have no choice now. Sorry about this." Chris said as he moved his head towards Thabians neck.

"What are-CHOMP-AARGH!" Thabians question was interrupted with his scream of pain as Chris took as large and powerful bite outta Thabians shoulder, and held on tight as he ground his teeth, knowing that it would hurt do to the lycanthrope weakness they both had. "LET ME GO DAMMIT-AARGH- AHHH-LET ME GO!"

"THABIAN!"Hearing the scream from the female were-wolf, Chris let go of Thabians neck, his face bloody from his bite, and looked towards where the scream had come from, but in doing so slackened grip just enough for him to break his hold.

He then grabbed Chris by his extremely long tail, and threw him towards Jetta. Who saw what had happened to her husband, and was extremely pissed off. As Chris flew through the air towards Jetta,he was barely able to block his vital areas as she clawed up his back as he managed to turn away from her claws.

"AAGH" He screamed as the sudden pain from several sharp, hard as steel, claws digging into his back made him unable to land properly as he hit the ground hard. _'Those claws are far more painful than Cheetah's, but then again the lack of zebra in her diet made it so her claws weren't all that strong.'_

Suddenly voices came out from the direction Jeta had come from. "Hey you bitch get away from my friend." Jetta then moved towards her husband and began looking over his wounds.

Turning towards the direction Jetta had come from, to see that Stripe, Cheetah, and Gina, had followed Jetta back towards where he and Thabian were fighting.

"Oh my god! Chris, are you alright?!" Gina screamed as she saw the five deep gashes going across his back.

"Not really, but my spines not severed, so I should be okay." Chris said weakly as he stood up. "How about you guys, any lasting damage."

"No, but the fight isn't over yet, so that could change." Stripe said grimly as he looked towards Jetta and Thabian.

"Are you alright love." Jetta asked Thabian as she checked his wound.

"I am fine Jetta, He didn't bite anything vital, and the bleeding is not severe. I think his goal was to make me scream so that you would come back. He was not aiming to kill me." Jetta looked confused at this but refused to back down from the fight.

"That doesn't matter, if you can fight then we shall fight. Now c'mon, let's get them." She said as she helped her husband stand up again.

The two groups faced each other in preparation to take each other out, and unfortunately Jetta and Thabian were in better shape than the Diggers, Stripe, and Chris.

"Alright people, Gina you stay back while me and Cheetah charge in, -cough- Stripe, you watch our backs and use hit and run tactics to act as distractions." Stripe looked unhappy at this.

"Chris, you can't be serious, that's a serious wound you have. We need to get you treated, and now that we've been here we can uses the light gate to get back." He said trying to get his friend to see reason.

"Not enough time." Chris said stubbornly. "And nothing you will do will injure them, since their only weaknesses are me and Cheetah, that and silver, but we don't got any on us right now. So this is our only shot. GO!"

As soon as he said this Cheetah charged Jetta as Chris leapt towards Thabian. His thoughts filled with silent screams as he continued to tear open the flesh on his back. Unfortunately, his wound began to affect his fighting faster than Thabian's, slowing his movements from the blood loss. Something Thabian took advantage of.

As he dodged Chris strikes, which were getting weaker by the second, Thabians thought were going a mile a minute as he tried to figure out the enigma before him. _'Why, why does this boy fight. He is severely injured, and from his scent holds no blood ties to any of his companions. The females are sisters, he said so himself, the cat is adopted of course, and the cats scent is all over that other man. Lovers perhaps? Either way... this man doesn't seem to hold any strong relation to any of the others. So why does he fight, when he knows that he is severely injured, why.'_ Thabian was actually quite impressed with Chris' will to fight.

"Thabian! Stop daydreaming and fight seriously. That albinos movements have slowed considerably. So end him already!" Jetta ordered Thabian as she threw Stripe, who had missed his attack, into a tree, knocking the wind out of him and stunning him. She then caught Cheetahs wild punch and placed her into a choke hold. "Now watch, were-cat. As my husband tears out your albino friends throat."

Jettas demand snapped him out of his thought as he deflected one of Chris' strikes and grabbed him by the neck, he then raised him into the air to choke him as his feet dangled limply and he attempted to break free. "Sorry were-cat, but the missus wants you dead, but even with that bite you gave me, no hard feelin- BANG-AARGH- JETTA!?"

Hearing a loud bang, and the scream from his wife caused him to turn, dropping Chris in the process.

Unfortunately, the loss of blood, the choking, and the sudden fall, regardless of how short, were enough to make him black out. His last sight being an image of Jetta holding her leg in pain as it began to smoke, from what appeared to be silver, and Gina screaming at him as he fell over, before it all faded to black.

...

An unknown amount of time later, we can see Chris floating in a large cylindrical tank, while being hooked up to various types of medical equipment. It appears that he is unconscious, but the sudden twitches his fingers make says otherwise, and Chris' eyes slowly open.

'_What the hell. Where am I.'_ As he looks around he sees that he's in some sort of lab, begins to panic, thinking that he was captured by some sort of government organization that was going to dissect him to figure out what makes him work. He was so distracted that he didn't even realise that he didn't feel any pain on his back where he had been slashed. Luckily, before he can do anything drastic, like punch a hole in the tank, a door off to the side opens up and his friends all walk in.

"Chris! you're awake! Here just hold on a minute and I'll get you out of there." Gina said before moiving over to the control panel.

After the tank empties and Chris towels off and gets dressed, he walks over to where Gina's waiting for him.

"So what happened Gina, and what where are we? You didn't bring me to a secret lab on the outskirts of a desert to heal me up and dissect me, did you?" He asked curiously.

Giggling slightly, at his questions, she just shook her head. "No Chris , you're at my house in my personal lab. That tank was my rejuvenation chamber. I helps with the recovery of any and all wounds. Even those caused by magic. Though you should still be careful. You still need to heal a bit before you're at tip top shape. Now c'mon. I only came down to check on you, but if you're up to it everybody's upstairs."

Nodding towards her,Chris followed her through the doors towards the elevator. He winced in pain, however, when the elevator began to rise. "Damn, hurts more now that I'm outta that tank." He said as he carefully rubbed his tender back.

"That's to be expected, the tank was giving you anesthetics after all." Gina explains.

"How long was I out for anyway?" He asked suddenly

"Three days, roughly. It would've been longer, but my dad, and our other magic friends, Mesh, Tark, and Tyr helped get you stable again. You lost a lot of blood you know." The lift arrives at the top of the elevator.

As the two get out of the elevator, Chris looks around and realises that he is indeed in a house.

After walking into the kitchen he notices that everybody was there. Except for Stripe and Tyr, but they probably had duties to attend to in their respective kingdoms. "Hey peeps, how it go- oof"

A sudden blonde bullet hits him before he can finish his sentence, and tears form at the corners of his eyes due to the pain of having his wounds squeezed by the were-cheetah that was hugging him. "Nice to see you too Cheets, but you're squeezing my wounds." He managed to squeak out.

"Ohmygosh. I'm so sorry." Cheetah said as she let him go.

"No problem Cheetah, I'm just a bit tender is all. Now tell me, what happened, I mean, I'm guessing we won since we're not all dead, but how exactly did we win. What happened to those were-wolves after I blacked out." He asks before waiting expectantly for an answer.

Gina and Cheetah glanced at each other before turning back at him. Before they can speak though, their father talks first.

"Are you sure you want to hear the story, Chris. Perhaps you should rest a bit more before we go into that." Dr. Diggers said from his position next to Tark and Mesha, athe the head of the table.

"No, I'm fine. I'm happy you're thinking about my health, but I want to know what happened." Chris said stubbornly. The Digger sisters sighed in unison before explaining what had happened.

Right before he blacked out Gina had shot Jetta in the leg with a silver bullet, a bullet that narrowly missed Cheetah. Thabian, who had dropped Chris at this point, rushed over to his wife and ran away as fast as he could all the while carrying his fallen wife.

After the were-wolves had left Gina had rushed over to Chris' side and began to apply what little first aid she knew, in order to stop his bleeding, with Cheetah and Stripe helping as best they could. Unfortunately nothing was working, so they had to let Cheetah use the light gate to get back carry him back to Dr. Diggers mansion, with the hopes that Dr. Diggers would be able to help. Since lycanthrope wounds are magical in mature.

As this was happening, Gina and Stripe continued on to get the Hindrium, which they found in several flowers on the outskirts of what they discovered to be the Garden of Eden. After picking the flowers, and light gating them into Armageddon, they then returned home to help get Chris fixed up, and move him into the new and improved healing tank at Gina's house.

It was silent around the table as Gina and Cheetah finished their tale. Each of them wondering how Chris would react to what happened.

"Well... that's certainly an anticlimactic ending, isn't it." Every one nearly face faulted at his statement.

"Wait, what. That's all you have to say about what happened." Cheetah said incredulously.

"Well sure. I mean, you're all okay, and no one but me got really hurt. The only reason I wanted to know what happened so much was because I wanted to know how I was supposed to end the story." "The story!?"

"Yeah, the story. I didn't take all those note while we were travelling for no reason you know." Gina, Cheetah, Tark, and Mesha, just looked at him dropped jaw amazement, but Dr. Diggers looked at him in understanding. "Let me guess, you all thought I would be beating myself up about the fact that I wasn't able to do anything in the end; right?"

There were nods all around, since that was exactly what they all thought. "Well nope. The only reason I would beat myself up about something, would be if I failed in protecting my friends, which in this case didn't happen. Now then! If it's no trouble with you guys, I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me hobble next door to my house. Since I'm assuming it's done if this one is."

Dr. Diggers was the first to reply to his request. "I'll help you out Chris, I was just about to leave anyway to be honest. But are you sure you don't want to stay here and celebrate your good health." Dr. Diggers asked.

"Nah, I'm too tired to party right now, it's after dark anyways. And before you say anything Gina, I refuse to spend a single second more than necessary naked and suspended in a giant fish tank. Right now what I need in my own bed for some nice R and R, nothing else." Chris said as he walked to the exit with Dr. Diggers. "Thank you for the wonderful adventure you two. If it's alright with you I'll be over tomorrow for a check up tomorrow morning, just in case."

"Sure thing Chris, in fact. Here's a spare key to the house. You're already keyed into the security. So just come over whenever you want. Okay." Gina said as she handed him a key.

"Thanks Gina, see ya tomorrow." He said with a big grin on his face. Gina just smiled back, happy that her friend was okay.

As Dr. Diggers and Chris walked over to Chris' new house. Dr. Diggers mood became slightly worried. "You're not really that okay, are you Chris?"

Chris' smile dropped and he was silent for a few seconds before answering. "No. No I'm not. I may have said I succeeded at protecting my friends, but I wasn't. I lost to probably our most dangerous obstacle yet, and became a liability in the end because I lost my grip on the enemy for less than a second. And why. All because I wouldn't kill him. I had the chance, but I didn't take it, and because of that I got to hurt to fight, and my friends could have died."

"Is that what you think, Christopher. Because I think that you're completely wrong in that aspect. I think you did quite admirably, for someone who was completely new to adventuring. And trust me, I know quite a bit about adventuring, having been an adventurer for the majority of my young adult life." Dr. Diggers said as he help Chris keep walking. "And to face a pair of fully trained and matured were-wolves is no simple feat,even if you didn't win. You simply relied too much on your Chi, and healing abilities granted to you in your hybrid form. The fact that you haven't lost a fight in several years may have also added to it, but I have no doubt in my mind that you could've won that fight easily. Your opponent just got lucky that's all."

Once again Chris was silent as he he and Dr. Diggers arrived at the door to his house. "Dr. Diggers. About that offer you made to me before we left to get the Hindrium... I want to go. I want to train in the Jade Realm!"

Dr. Diggers gave him a look, as if he was expecting this outcome. "Then I guess it's a good thing I contacted my Karia before you woke up, eh." He said with a grin.

"You did, but how'd you know..." Chris trailed off the end of his sentence as he tried to figure out how Dr. Diggers seemed to know his so well.

"Like I said Chris, I too was once an adventurer. I know what it's like to feel helpless. Right now you have the skill, but not the experience. Gina and Brittany may not be as skilled as you in fighting, but they are more experienced with unexpected situations on adventures. During your adventure, I believe you had come to think you were prepared for anything when you had run into those were-wolves. What with you going to El Dorado, Atlantis, Shangri-La, and what was apparently the Garden of Eden, I can see why this might be." Dr. Diggers explained. "However, because of that, along with your previous fights, I think you got cocky, which is why I said your opponent got lucky. I don't think you're the kind of person that gets overconfident. Your trip to the Jade Realm will let you learn exactly where you stand when it comes to your power, as well as help you gain the experience of an adventurer you so desperately want."

After hearing Dr. Diggers talk, Chris realised that he had indeed gotten cocky, and in doing so got careless. He smiled a truly happy smile for the first time that night. "Thanks Dr. Digger, I thinks that's just what I needed to hear right now."

As he said this Dr. Diggers unlocked the door to his house with the key he had. "Indeed. Here's your key Chris. Now you'd best get a good nights sleep. After you get your check up tomorrow you'd best pack up, you'll be leaving in the afternoon. Goodnight"

Surprised at how soon he would be leaving, he just nodded, saying a quick goodnight as he closed the door to his house.

...

The next morning, at the entrance to Cheetah and Gina's house. Chris can be seen, standing in his human form, at the entrance to the house waiting for the residents of said house to answer the door. -ding dong- But after several minutes of waiting in minor soreness from his previous injuries, Chris decided to put the key he was given to good use, and opened the door.

As he walked into the house he noticed three things. One, no one was in the kitchen. Two, no one was in the living room. And three, the elevator did not appear to have been used. As such, the obvious conclusion, for as to why no one was answering the door was that, simply put, no one was awake. But just to be sure he walked down the hallway towards Ginas room and knocked on her door. He then heard a muffled groan from within the room. Turning around, he then walked out the door and went straight back to his house to grab something.

"Geez are these guys serious. It's nearly ten o'clock already, and they're still sleeping. God." He said in exasperation as he walked back into Ginas house with the item from his house. Said item just so happened to be an air horn. -HOOOONK- Which was loud. -YEEEK- "-Hmmm- Three girly shrieks and a manly scream. I guess Tark and Mesha spent the night here for some reason instead of going back to Dr. Diggers."

"Christopher Climbers, what the hell is your problem!" Gina screamed as she walked out of her room half dressed in nothing but her panties and a shirt. The other occupants were also slowly coming out of their rooms in various states of half nakedness. Or in Mesh and Tarks case, the guest room.

"My problem, Gina, is that I usually don't get up later than eight thirty to nine o'clock, but here you are sleeping in until ten, way past that if I hadn't woken you up, when I'm supposed to be getting my final check up to see if everything's okay." Chris explained calmly. "By the way, I know you're all still half asleep, and yes I mean you three as well, but seriously, you all might want to go get dressed before we continue this conversation any more than we already have."

After he said this the four recently awoken sleeping beauties looked at their current states of dressed, and rushed back into their rooms to change.

Except for Tark. But for guys it's okay to walk around in just a pair of pants at home.

"So Tark. Can you cook." Chris asked as he they both walked towards the kitchen. "Not really, but I can work a coffee machine." "Well good! Cause I can't, since I don't drink coffee."

Chris and Tark spent the next twenty minutes cooking brunch for everybody as they waited for the girls to finish getting ready for the day. "You ever wonder it's like to take more than five minutes to get dressed for a regular day that's _not_ something formal." "Nope" "Me neither."

Just then Mesha entered the kitchen, lured in by the aroma of a healthy brunch. Following her was Gina and Cheetah, who were also enjoying the mouth watering scent. -growl- "Well, well, well, someone's hungry." Chris said as he put the food covered plates on the table. "Alright folks, eat up. This here's my apology for using an air horn on you guys."

No one said anything, since they were too engrossed in devouring the delicious food that was in front of them. But when they finished they let him know how much they enjoyed it.

"Good god Chris, did you go to chefs school as well. Seriously, that was one of the best meals I've ever had, and it was just a simple meal too!" Cheetah said as she finished her meal. "It wasn't as good as tuna, but it was closer than anything else I've ever had."

As the rest of the group finished eating and began to help put everything away Gina began to pull Chris towards the elevator. "Alright guys me and Chris gotta go down to the lab to finish his check up. back in a few."

After reaching the lab and going through the embarrassment of having to stip naked to get into the tank to be scanned, Chris came out with a clean bill of health. Though he would still have scars on his back from his encounter with the were-wolves. They then did some Checks on his hybrid and animal form, confirming that his animal form had stopped growing at five foot six inches tall, and that he was in more or less tip top shape.

"Alright now Chris, you're good to go. So now what are you gonna do." Gina asked as she and Chris walked into the living room where the other three were waiting. "And why are you hanging out in your human form."

"Actually I need to talk to you guys about that." He said nervously. "And it was out of habit I guess. I'll be hanging around more were-creatures soon anyway so I guess I better get more used to my hybrid form anyway." He said right before shifting.

His statement gained the attention of the rest of the rooms occupants. "You see, not that long before we left to get the Hindrium Dr. Diggers offered to get in touch with one of his war mage friends in the Jade Realm. Last night night just got back to me and told me that he contacted her, and got me a place at her school. So later this afternoon I'll be going to the Jade Realm to receive training from Master Karia." Silence was what greeted his statement.

"What?... But... why? You just got home and your house just got built. Is this because of what happened? Because it's not your fault, not at all." Gina said, unable to comprehend why Chris was just leaving. She was starting to really enjoy his company.

"That's part of it, yes. But the truth is that I really enjoyed the adventure we went on, and I want to keep going on adventures in the future. Unfortunately there's some things I need to do before I think I'll feel comfortable doing something like this again." Chris explained to his saddened friends. "If I want to keep adventuring I need to focus more on my martial arts, but I feel like I've reached a wall in what I'm currently doing. There's no schools here that can help me improve, and just fighting constantly in the arena won't help me fast enough. That, and after going on the adventure we just had, I just want to see even more things that I've never seen before. If I go to Jade then I can do all that and more."

Gina and Cheetah looked upset at what Chris was saying, but they seemed to understand what he wanted. "If that's how you feel Chris, then I guess that's how it is."

"Thanks for understanding you guys. But that isn't all I came over for." Gina, Cheetah, and the elves gave him a questioning look. "Heh, I was also wondering if you guys would be able to house sit for me while I'm gone; and help me pack."

His four neighbours just gave him an amused look, before following Chris back over to his house so he could show them around.

"Alright guys, I don't really think there's much you need to do to take care of the place. But I'll show you around anyway. By the way Gina your robots did an excellent job moving things in for me." He said as he led the group into the house.

As the group made their way through the house, Chris pointed out the main places of the houses main floor. Living room, kitchen, dining room, den, and the bathroom. Upstairs he showed them the master bedroom, the connected library, and the two small guest bedrooms. None of this was all that impressive, but then they went to the basement. Which was far more impressive than the other floors.

"Finally we have the basement. My pride and joy." Chris said as his guests jaws dropped in amazement.

The basement itself was shaped like a large gym, being nearly twice the size of the above floor, it was very open concept, having been built like a bomb shelter. Thus it didn't require many beams to keep the house from collapsing.

It was very spartan in design, only having mats on the ground and a bathroom/changeroom, on the side. The two features that really stood out however, was the sauna on the opposite side of the room to the bathrooms, and the wall on the far side from the entrance. The wall covered in an assortment of ancient weaponry.

"Wow Chris, I didn't know you collected weapons. Where'd you get them, heck, _when _did you get them." Cheetah said as the group went over to the large collection of nearly a hundred assorted weapons.

"Truth is these are mainly family heirlooms. Most of them were passed down from parent to child, but recently they've just been in storage." Chris explained as he went over to a specific section of the wall. "Apparently it was tradition to pass a weapon that you yourself had made on to your descendent when you thought they were ready."

Chris picked up a pair of short staffs off of the wall. "My father died before he could pass these on to me directly, but I think it's time I put these to good use." He said before turning the staffs into nunchucks, and then changing them back

"I didn't know you used weapons Chris. Why didn't you use any before when you were fighting." Mesha asked as she and the others walked over to him.

Chris sighed before answering. "The truth is that I usually do use my own short staffs when fighting, but they broke before I met you guys. I hadn't been able to replace them before we left, and these weapons were all in storage. I can actually use **all** these weapons, but I'm best with these staffs."

"Wow! You must know a lot about weapons then, huh." Cheetah said as she once again looked towards the large wall covered in weapons.

"-sigh- My father tried to teach me as much as he could before he died. So I can make and take care of them fine, but my mother tried to make me forget it all after he died. So I hope to polish my declining skills when I go to Jade." He said as he began to pack up more of his things. "When I come back I also want to try and learn more about my family history. I have a feeling that my dad wasn't able to teach me everything he could before he died."

Having finished the tour of his new house, the group then went upstairs to help Chris finish packing. The only things he decided to bring were several changes of clothes, his staffs, a couple of notebooks to write his adventures into, the books he copied from Shangri-La, and his necklace, given to his from his father.

Just then a light appeared outside the house in the backyard. It was Dr. Diggers, waiting for him, next to what appeared to be a portal. Looking at the clock on the wall, they realised that it was already mid afternoon.

"Well guys, this is it." He said as he turned to the group to say his goodbyes. "I'll see you guys in a few months, I guess. Maybe sooner if I get the chance to come back and visit."

"See ya soon Chris, and the next time we go on an adventure you'd better be ten times better than you are right now. Alright!" Gina said as she said her goodbyes.

"Sure thing Gina. But I'll be sure to be a thousand times better than I am right now." He said as he walked towards the portal. "Okay Dr. Diggers, let's get this show on the road!"

...

**AN:** Well there you have it. The end of Chris' first adventure. I'm sorry to say, but it's also time for me to put this on a hiatus of unknown length. You see I wrote this story using the mini-series comics as a template and general outline. I don't plan on doing that for the next little bit of Chris' life. I want to make it more original. More revolved around Chris. Don't get me wrong. I still plan on having him go on adventures with the Diggers, but I want him to also develop more individually, so that he can become more than what he is currently. So I'll be putting this story on a short hiatus in order to write some outlines for the next few chapters, which will be about Chris' time in Jade, before he eventually comes back to earth. There will also be more revealed in regards to Chris' family as well. So don't think I'm just gonna leave it as is.

So now that, that's out of the way, please review. I'd like to know my readers opinions about what I've written. They help out a lot, unless they're insults or flames. Those can go straight to the trash.


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